At the end of the Black Sea Cruise in 1994, more than 400 writers and translators from thirty different nations, adopted the «Delphi Declaration» which states:
«Having seen different historic sights, ranging from the famous stair of the Eisenstein movie to the marvelous excavation of Ephesus, we all gained a vision of a Europe to come, in which countries around the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea are included and the Eastern European countries take a vital and equal part».
Clearly, this is a vision of peace. In order to make it become reality, free flow of information, as well as freedom of expression, must be continuously strengthened and safeguarded. Peace needs communication. It is our firm belief that literature and literary translations have always been and will be in the future the bridge to this mutual understanding, which is the basis of peace.
Rhodes, having been a stepping-stone between nations and cultures throughout history, demonstrates the capacity to promote peace just now by housing the ongoing Palestine-Israeli talks on democratic structures of the new Palestine state.
It is this very quality of bridging between different cultures that makes Rhodes, at the beginning of a new millenium, the ideal site for a new and independent international institution for free dialogue, tolerance, and peace. This institution shall bear the name «WAVES OF THREE SEAS - European Writers' and Translators' Centre of Rhodes».
