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President's address at the European Capital of Culture 2012 opening ceremony

Maribor, 14.1.2012  |  press release


President of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, attends the European Capital of Culture 2012 opening ceremony (photo: Daniel Novakoviè/STA)The President of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, attended the opening ceremony of the European Capital of Culture 2012 as the patron of honour. In his address, he emphasised that all Slovenians are proud of Maribor, the current European and thus, also the Slovenian capital of culture. He described the opening ceremony as the moment when Maribor entered a new development stage. On this occasion, he congratulated the Mayor of Maribor, Franc Kangler, and the people who participated in preparing the programmes for this project.

President Türk recalled the words of the novelist Louis Adamiè according to whom, culture is the most powerful industry of the Slovenian nation. He went on to say that our development is not only the development of material opportunities, but above all one that increases our level of culture, a pre-condition for the preservation of our identity. This particularly applies to the current time of crisis, in which the whole of Europe seeks relevant answers. According to the president, it would be much easier to find the right answers if all cultural messages we are capable of producing were included in this quest. Therefore, Maribor, as the European capital of culture, is so very precious to us in this difficult period.

President of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, attends the European Capital of Culture 2012 opening ceremony (photo: Daniel Novakoviè/STA)'The things that we nowadays talk about most are financial and economic problems. However, we must know that the answers pertinent to our future development and our long-term destiny do not solely depend on financial and economic solutions. Therefore, we should be satisfied, happy and optimistic in view of the fact that right now, in these turbulent times, Maribor is to become our common, European capital of culture. Congratulations once again to all those people who were involved in the "design" of this capital and in drafting the programmes, in which they will also participate,' concluded President Türk, wishing the audience every success and many beautiful cultural experiences.
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