EUROPE GOES SILK ROAD, a private initiative of young Europeans, regarding itself as the greatest expedition fostering international understanding in Eurasia, was officially presented during a press conference on Wednesday.
Vienna (OTS) – EUROPE GOES SILK ROAD, a private initiative of young Europeans who undertake a 33,000 km long expedition with a minibus from the heart of Europe, through the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia, to India and China, was officially presented at a press conference in the Diplomatic Academy on 5th June 2019.
Experts from the initiative’s advisory board, David Morris (UN ESCAP), Velina Tchakarova (AIES), Sebastian Kummer (Institute of Transports & Logistics Management – Vienna University of Economics and Business), as well as the renowned Eurasia and Silk Road expert Bruno Maçães, were present to discuss current developments along the New Silk Road and to assess potential contributions that the EUROPE GOES SILK ROAD initiative can make to a further understanding of them.
The initiative can be described as the most important expedtition fostering international understanding in Eurasia so far, as it aims to connect the different perspectives of economy, science, culture and diplomacy, in order to build a large international network and to understand the history, present and future of the continent. “The Europeans must stop being afraid and deal with the future of Eurasia,” Holler points out. “That is why we have launched EUROPE GOES SILK ROAD, the largest expedition fostering international understanding in Eurasia.”
Thus, the developments on the entire expedition corridor along the New Silk Road shall be experienced and illustrated. However, the initiators are not solely concentrating on China, but also on other regions and countries, such as the South Caucasus and India, which are of paramount importance and are also going to play key roles in the near Eurasian future. Here, Holler locates a great need of rethinking the Silk Road discourse in Europe: “The Silk Road is not just about China or trains. It is a metaphor for all trans-Eurasian connections. To capture this in its entirety, we connect perspectives from science, culture, economics and diplomacy.”
The renowned Eurasia expert and bestselling author Bruno Maçães stressed the importance of this project. “The EUROPE GOES SILK ROAD initiative is the right step into the right direction. It will be very successful in generating new knowledge on the topic. But it also has a high symbolic value for all of us. It underlines that we must prepare for the future, the future in a new world order,” he said. “Starting this expedition from Vienna also makes sense. Just as Metternich used to say, Asia starts at the Landstraße.”
