Ambassadors and other officials of European embassies in Qatar at a press conference held at the Bulgarian Embassy on Thursday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
European Union (EU) member states represented in Qatar are mulling to organise more events and activities to promote awareness about EU as well as further enhance ties with Qatar.
Netherlands Ambassador Dr. Bahia G Tahzib-Lie said European ambassadors have talked about “how to make all the wonderful things that the EU actually offers not to only citizens but also to the world.”
“We are working right now to make an action plan to hold events that the people of Qatar can be more familiar with the EU and also for everyone to have closer linkage with Qatar, and all other possibilities,” said Tahzib-Lie.
Inviting good European speakers and organizing attractive events to know more about each other’s countries and deepen ties are among those being planned by the bloc, she added.
Last year, the 17 EU member states represented in Qatar established the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) Qatar cluster, which Tahzib-Lie said, has been playing a very important role.
Present in over 150 countries, EUNIC members work in the arts, languages, youth, education, science, society, intercultural dialogue and development; promoting the role of culture in the EU’s internal and external relations.
Prior to the founding of EUNIC Qatar cluster, EU member states here have been organizing a number of events and activities.
“Even before the EUNIC Cluster was started, the EU member states in Qatar had joined together to launch European Jazz Festival in Qatar and this year, we will be organizing its fourth edition together with Katara and Qatar Airways,” said Olivier Deseez, EUNIC Qatar cluster president.
Scheduled to take place from November 8 to 12 at Katara, the Festival will see the participation of 11 European countries, according to Deseez.
“Last year, we also organized some conferences on the occasion of Day of Europe on May 10 and we will do that again this year. We will see if we can add more events this year,” he added.
Bulgarian Ambassador Metin Kazak, who currently chairs the local presidency of the EU Council in Qatar, underlined the significance of reaching out to the academe.
“We establish very good contacts with some universities like Qatar University, giving lectures on regular basis and meeting with students and teachers. I think this is a very good opportunity also to increase information on young people here in Qatar about EU, our functions, achievements,” said Kazak.
The ambassadors were speaking at a press conference to announce the second edition of ‘Crash Courses on European Languages’ to be held at the French Institute in Qatar on September 26 to mark European Day of Languages.
The free of charge courses are an initiative seen as another opportunity to enhance people’s knowledge of European culture.
“In the language courses we will present our nations and our cultures and our nations and give a sort of an appetizer of what our countries can offer. We would like to see more students from Qatar coming to our universities which is a very good investment in the future for both of us and we see a lot of potential in this,” said Swedish Ambassador Ewa Polano.
