The on-going European Intercultural Festival is coming closer to its end. The main events of the fourth festival day were held in Minsk and Homel. In the Belarusian capital, Jana Kobzova, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (London), continued to present the main aspects of European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership Initiative. The presentation was organised in the framework of the project “European Café” which is managed by the online information portal “New Europe”. The audience had the opportunity to discuss with Jana what does “Europeanness” mean for those countries in Europe which are not members of the EU and how these states should build relations with other European countries. More information about the presentation can be found on this link.
At the same time, the Art-Café of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus hosted the release of the book by Uladzimir Arlou and Zmicer Herasimovich “This Country Called Belarus”. The event was organised by Office for a Democratic Belarus (Brussels) and Office for European Expertise and Communication (Minsk) and our Brussels office had an active role in the event’s preparation. The book tells about the rich history of Belarus covering the period from ancient times to the start of the 20th century. The representatives of local embassies received a signed copy of the book as a gift. Office for a Democratic Belarus will provide copies of the book to leading international libraries, universities and institutes to make Belarusian history and culture better known abroad. The book is written by the renowned writer and historian Uladzimir Arlou and illustrated by artist Zmicer Herasimovich who provided over 2000 illustrations for the book. The book release included a presentation by the authors about the ideas and history behind the book. In addition, the wife of Professor Jim Dingley, a British expert on Belarus, gave presentation on the difficulties of translation with sparking humour with Volha Kalatskaya, the Belarusian proof reader of the English version of the book.
The fourth festival day in Minsk was concluded with the European Movie Night organised by the Youth Education Centre “Fialta”.
In Homel, the fourth day started with an information session for representatives of CSOs on programmes of the EU and current calls of project proposals. The moderators of the event explained how to find European partners and discussed possible ideas with the audience and opportunities for cooperation in the framework of the presented European programmes.
In the evening, the youth of the city had the chance to learn about the EU programme ”Youth in Action” and the possibilities to take part in different youth exchange programmes and in the EVS (European Voluntary Service). The young audience could also pose questions to volunteers from Germany, Czech Republic and Sweden who are currently working in Belarusian CSOs.
The events of the fifth day:
Minsk
• The meeting of the jury for the photo competition “European neighbourhood” and the children’s drawing content “Painting Europe”
• Meeting of the English club “European Legends”
Homel:
• Lecture ”What is the European Union and how does it cooperate with Belarus”