erstellt am 22. 10. 03
Deutschsprachige in Belgien The German-speaking Community of Belgium will be European Region of the Year 2004 Today, the German-speaking Community of Belgium officially became European Region of the Year 2004. On Tuesday, 21 October, the Minister-President of the German-speaking Community of Belgium, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, and the President of the European Region of the Year Organisation, Xavier Tudela (shown in photo), signed the Agreement to nominate the German-speaking Community of Belgium as European Region of the Year 2004, a title that it will share with Madeira (Portugal). The International Jury which elected the German-speaking Community of Belgium and Madeira as European Region of the Year 2004 consisted of Thomas Byrne, Director de South-East Regional Authority (Ireland); Sergey Katanandov, President of the Republic of Karelia (Russia); Henri V. Roten, State Chancellor of the Canton of Valais (Switzerland); István Tokár, President of the Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok region (Hungary); and Xavier Tudela, President of the European Region of the Year Organisation. The German-speaking Community of Belgium is considered as the best-protected minority in Europe. Belgium is a federal nation, consisting of three linguistic communities (Flemish, French and German), and three regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels). As its name indicates, the territory of the German-speaking Community corresponds to the area where that language is spoken. It covers an area of 854 km², and has a population of 71,000. The German-speaking Community of Belgium is ideally situated from the economic viewpoint, due to its multilingual population and its geographical situation in relation to national borders. There are a multitude of small businesses in the region, and an active cultural life. It is currently celebrating a dual anniversary: 30 years of the Council and 20 years of the Government. The European Region of the Year is an initiative which aims to increase knowledge and recognition of European regional affairs, to make new contributions to regional construction and European integration and, finally, to project the regions designated as European Region of the Year onto the European and international scene, in all their aspects, such as the social, cultural, economic and tourism aspects. The initiative has certain similarities to the European Capitals of Culture, but at regional level. Every year, two regions are designated as European Region of the Year, regions which must belong to different countries, as is the case of the Balearic Islands (Spain) and the Republic of Karelia (Russia), European Region of the Year 2003, or Kiev (Ukraine) and Piedmont (Italy), European Region of the Year 2005. Any region of the 45 member countries of the Council of Europe may apply to be designated as European Region of the Year. Eupen (Belgium), 21 October 2003 Organisation of The European Region of the Year http://www.tery.org
am Dienstag (21. 10.)
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