Riyadh – Asdaf News:
The third European Night of Languages, was organized by the European Union Delegation to Saudi Arabia, at the Sheraton Hotel, Wednesday.
EU Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, H.E. Christophe Farnaud welcomed guests and explained his pleasure to host the third European night of Languages and said,: “The European Union is delighted to see such a great level of interest in European languages among the Saudi society. As we build up our strategic partnership with the Kingdom, the EU remains committed to creating platforms that bring us closer as people. Furthermore, multilingualism not only allows greater understanding among our cultures, but it also opens up immense economic and business opportunities to accelerate bilateral relations across all areas.’
The event that celebrates of the linguistic diversity and cultural richness of the continent, was organized in collaboration with the embassies of EU member states, European cultural institutes, and local partners, together 250 aficionados of the Saudi language for a genuine European cultural encounter.
Members of the diplomatic community, European ambassadors, and qualified language instructors provided a forum for Saudi citizens to hone their language skills. Additionally, it encouraged language acquisition and emphasized the value of languages in fostering greater intercultural understanding and closer interpersonal relationships.
Saudi guests exchanged in 16 languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Greek, Dutch, Hungarian, Czech, Romanian, Finnish, Irish and Arabic. They also enjoyed a musical performance by a local Portuguese band Almanata and took part in an interactive quiz.
The European Night of Languages promotes multilingualism, which the European Union marks annually on 26 September. The EU with its 27 member states and 24 official languages values highly cultural and linguistic heritage with its nearly 450 million citizens reaping the socio-economic benefits that multilingualism has to offer, from global access to knowledge and education, to better job opportunities and from extensive social contacts to new business ventures.
In May 2022, the European Union introduced its Joint Communication on a Strategic Partnership with the Gulf, aiming to broaden and deepen the EU’s cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council and its Member States. The Communication presents concrete proposals to strengthen cooperation on energy, green transition and climate change, trade and economic diversification, regional stability and global security, humanitarian and development challenges, and closer people-to-people contacts.
