Victor Negrescu: Timisoara can become regional cultural hub, develop tourist destination brand

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Timisoara must take advantage of the European Capital of Culture (ECC) 2023 status to become a regional cultural hub that will attract European funds, but also develop a coherent brand to be a destination attractive for tourists and investments, the vice-president of the Committee for Culture and Education of the European Parliament (EP), Victor Negrescu, said on Wednesday.

“Timisoara must take advantage of this moment to think about a long-term sustainable project. Timisoara can project itself as a regional cultural hub both in the area of contemporary art and in the promotion of everything that means culture and local artists. I think that we have to think about what to do after 2023, how we can make use of the European funds, creating a coherent brand for Timisoara, so that the city becomes attractive for tourists and for investments afterwards, and I think that this cultural dimension has not yet been used by any city in Romania,” said MEP Negrescu, who was in Timisoara between April 3 and 5, together with members of the Committee for Culture and Education (CULT) of the European Parliament.

The leader of the EP delegation, Andrey Slabakov, emphasized, during a press conference, that efforts must be made so that the cultural dimension of ECC 2023 reaches every EU resident, not just the people of Timisoara. He also pointed out the benefits that the ECC title brings to a city.

“The title of European Capital of Culture of a city creates bridges between the people of the European Union. The crisis, the pandemic and the war are temporary, but art is eternal and I am sure that Timisoara will be very successful in the year of the ECC. In the European Union we often talk about sustainability and it is important that the initiatives started this year continue at the end of 2023. It is important not only for Timisoara, but also for Romania, for the European Union and for this reason it is necessary to ensure that culture reaches every inhabitant, not only of Timisoara and not only of Romania,” said Andrey Slabakov.

MEP Vlad-Marius Botos pointed out that “the success of the European Capital of Culture title does not belong to any institution, nor to the Timisoara 2023 Association, which worked very hard for this program, but belongs to all the inhabitants, of the entire country.”

MEP Iuliu Winkler, substitute member of the CULT Committee of the EP, emphasized the importance of reinventing the spirit of Timisoara and the more significant involvement of young people and minorities in the cultural act of TM2023.

“The year 2023 is not only the year of the ECC, but must become the year of our accession to Schengen. It is necessary to reinvent the spirit of TimiSoara. Let us explain to today’s young people what this spirit means, dear. It is also important to involve young people, especially in 2023, especially on the dimension of diversity, multiculturalism and multilingualism. Timisoara must live these realities every day (…). At the same time, the involvement of ethnic minorities is important. I don’t think we need to always repeat that there are three theaters , Romanian, Hungarian and German under the same roof in Timisoara [in the same building of the Palace of Culture], but we must do more to involve more those communities that built and created value, innovated and lived together and they live together today,” explained Iuliu Winkler.

The delegation of MEPs participated in meetings with the Minister of Culture, Lucian Romascanu, the mayor Dominic Fritz, the president of the Timis County Council, Alin Nica, and with the Timisoara 2023 National Cultural Project team, but also with local cultural operators and Ukrainian refugees involved in cultural activities.

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