EUNIC: European values, promoted through culture

Liviu Jicman, President of the Romanian Cultural Institute and President of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (Network of National Cultural Institutes of the European Union), stated in Brussels, at the EUNIC General Assembly, that the network promotes common European values and contributes to the achievement of the major objectives of the EU agenda. The main topic of the meeting agenda was the EUNIC Strategy 2025-2029, a document initiated at the General Assembly organized by the ICR in June in Bucharest, when the ICR President took over the presidency of EUNIC. Liviu Jicman stated:

"This reaffirms the role of EUNIC as a strategic partner of the European Union in international cultural relations. We discussed in plenary the evolution of framework programmes such as the EUNIC Mobility Scheme, the strategic projects selected for funding through the Cluster Fund, the European Spaces of Culture and the cooperation programme with the Ukrainian Institute. The role of EUNIC in supporting the European path of the EU candidate states - Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova - was debated within the working groups with a view to being integrated into the strategy". Liviu Jicman underlined that "through its 140 clusters around the world, EUNIC promotes common European values and contributes to the achievement of the major objectives of the EU agenda. Culture matters, and EUNIC is proof that together we are stronger". EUNIC is the network of national cultural institutes from the European Union states, as well as from the United Kingdom and Ukraine and currently includes 39 national cultural organisations from all EU Member States and associated countries. EUNIC is active in 140 clusters globally. The new executive board of the European Union Network of National Cultural Institutes (EUNIC Board) is composed of the following members: President Liviu Jicman, Vice President Kirsten van den Hul (Director of DutchCulture), Hanna Lamsa (Executive Director of Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes), Mary Ann Cauchi (Director of Funds and Strategies Arts Council Malta), Carmen Noguero Galilea (Instituto Cervantes), Johannes Ebert (Goethe-Institut).