Europa Nostra participates at LABINA event at the European Parliament

On 26 October, the Secretary General of Europa Nostra, Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, took part in the panel discussion of the event “LABINA: Connecting Europe through art and tolerance – How the power of culture serves EU integration” hosted by MEP Valter Flego and MEP Irena Joveva at the the European Parliament in Brussels.

Many thanks to MEPs @ValterFlego & @IJoveva for bringing #Labina & the “Istrian way of life” to Brussels:
using heritage & art to promote #Togetherness is what we need to speed up & intensify #WesternBalkans’ full integration into the EU. Such projects deserve full EU support. pic.twitter.com/VJegWnVJUf

— Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović (@SneskaEN) October 27, 2022

The panel discussion was introduced by Valter Glavicić, Mayor of the City of Labin (Croatia), and Sonja Damjanović, LABINA  Artistic Director. Ana Hrustanović, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the EU, Ivana Krušec-Rubić, Counsellor for Culture and Audiovisual Affairs at the Permanent Representation of Croatia to the EU, Georg Haeusler, Director at the European Commission DG EAC, and Luca Jahier, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, also contributed to the discussion.

Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović stated that “Using heritage and art to promote togetherness is what we need to speed up and intensify Western Balkans’ full integration into the European Union” and emphasised that “Projects of bridge-building through art and heritage such as LABINA deserve to receive full EU support”. 

The main goal of the LABINA project is the promotion of Europe’s cultural heritage, which is based on numerous regional and local values and traditions. LABINA promotes cross-border cultural cooperation through a festival of Europe’s culture as a vector of togetherness,  humanity and multiculturalism; it thus has the power of improving lives and transforming communities.

Given the fact that EU countries and the Western Balkans are connected through a shared history and deep cultural ties, LABINA serves as a substantial “vector” of EU integration and enlargement policies and as a driver for reconciliation, connecting Europe through art and tolerance.