On Tuesday, June 6, the first day of celebrations of Sweden’s National Day, the end of the presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) and the celebration of 500 years of its independence were held in Silos Belgrade
The celebration was opened by H.E. Annika Ben David, Ambassador of Sweden in Belgrade with the participation of Plamena Holcheva, deputy head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Serbia.
“Now it’s more important than ever to nurture what unites us. During our EU presidency, Sweden worked hard to promote EU values such as democracy, human rights, rule of law and environmental sustainability,” said the Swedish ambassador added: “We are Serbia’s largest bilateral partner in the field of environmental reform. Serbia has made great progress in recent years. Through waste management projects such as OD-VA-JA-MO, Serbia has shown that it is committed to working on environmental sustainability. The efforts of civil society organizations and municipalities were crucial in raising awareness and mobilizing communities towards sustainable practices. The cooperation between Serbia and the international community was of vital importance for the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources for the green transition in Serbia”.
As part of the jubilee celebration, Miroslav Gačević, Acting Assistant Minister for European Integration in the Republic of Serbia, opened the photo exhibition “Applied Nostalgia” organized by the Ministry of European Integration. Photos of the capitals of Sweden and Serbia, whose authors are young photographers from these two countries, after being exhibited at the European House in Stockholm, were also displayed in Belgrade.
The first of the three days of celebrating the jubilee ended with the “Abba Tribute” band concert. On the second day, June 7, on the plateau in front of the Silos in Belgrade, several projects will be presented that were financed by Sweden and the Ministry of the Republic of Serbia in previous years, together with the EU in Serbia. A panel discussion organized by the Swedish alumni network of students from Serbia will be held on the topic “Corporate social responsibilities and sustainable development goals?”.
On the third day, June 8, the troupe of the world-famous circus from Sweden “Cirkus Cirkör” will be an exclusive guest, who will perform the performance “Knitting for Peace”. After performances in Vienna, Bratislava, and guest appearances in Belgrade, they continue the journey to Bucharest. In cooperation with the Serbian circus Cirkusfera, numerous workshops will be organized for children who will be able to try the basics of circus disciplines.
This program was supported by 28 Swedish companies in Serbia, the EU Delegation in Serbia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, and the Swedish Institute with the participation of the Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia.
