Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 19 April (BelTA) – Belarus has contributed a lot to the implementation of the European Cultural Convention, Council of Europe's Director General for Democracy Snezana Samardzic-Markovic said at the roundtable meeting “25 years of participation of Belarus in the European Cultural Convention” in Minsk on 19 April, BelTA has learned.

“The European Cultural Convention is a kind of a bridge between different European nations and states. Culture helps promote values of diversity and freedom of cultural expression,” Snezana Samardzic-Markovic said.

Belarus joined the European Cultural Convention in 1993. “These 25 years have been the years of close fruitful cooperation and achievements. Belarus’ joining the convention allowed us to learn more about your country, its culture. Through the convention, your country has participated in different projects,” she noted.

Being a member of the Coordination Committee, Belarus offers many interesting projects that involve a great number of participants, Snezana Samardzic-Markovic stressed. She paid special attention to a pilot project which is being implemented in Mstislavl within the framework of the convention: “It is an urban project implemented with the participation of the local community and we are promoting this initiative and this city”.

Snezana Samardzic-Markovic expressed the confidence that Belarus’ participation in the convention will contribute to the further promotion of the country and culture. In particular, Borisov District is a promising tourist destination as it is closely connected with the name of Napoleon.

The roundtable meeting was organized by the Belarusian Culture Ministry, the National History Museum, the Council of Europe Information Point and was hosted by in the Modern Belarusian Statehood Museum in Minsk.