Tymoteusz Zych, the rector of the Collegium Intermarium, said he was not surprised that he was being attacked in the media even before the university he is in charge of opened its doors.
In an interview with Solidarity’s longstanding weekly “Tygodnik Solidarność,” he said this was because “universities are currently dominated by left wing views.” He said that he understood this could not be changed overnight and that it could not be done by “shutting ourselves in ghettoes”. It has to be done by “providing young people with an alternative to the leftist mainstream.”
He said that his institution would base itself on traditional values which have shaped Europe, but from which the continent has abandoned. It would also be based on promoting learning and free debate rather than ideology.
Asked about the name of the institution, Collegium Intermarium, Zych confirmed that it was an attempt to fit into the idea of the Intermarium as a political, philosophical and scientific entity and to show the world the intellectual potential of the Three Seas region, which includes Poland and 11 other countries in the Central and Eastern European region. The university hopes to build the identity and importance of the Three Seas in order to resist attempts to colonize the region.
