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Europa - Peace

Set
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Set
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Sheetlets
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Sheetlets
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First Day Cover
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About Europa - Peace

The theme of these two stamps prompts us to ask how much the word “peace” still means in the various languages of the world. If it did mean something, we would not be faced, in the modern world, with the menacing decisions and actions that, through countless wars and conflicts, have exactly the opposite effect. The Slovene word for peace is mir. In other languages this word (and variants thereof) not only refers to the lasting peace that we all yearn for, it also has meanings of “world”, “humanity”, “universe” and “tranquillity”.

Proto-Slavonic and Indo-European meanings also cover notions such as “good”, “dear” and “agreeable”. How wonderful this all sounds, yet we soon realise that these meanings are unknown to those individuals and groups whose thoughtless and selfish actions are destroying this highest value of humanity. The threat to peace is, today, a fundamental threat facing the whole of humanity. Despite all the opportunities offered by the latest forms of communication, which are meant to bring individuals, families, groups and the inhabitants of the local and regional environments of the world closer together, we are still seeing individuals and groups who, with the abundant support of capital, are realising their desire to destroy everything positive that humankind has created on our planet over the course of centuries. Above all, those precious elements of our natural and cultural environments that allow people on this Earth a noble coexistence, respecting the many differences of economic systems, social conditions and forms of spirituality that can only enrich us, not divide us!

Janez Bogataj