Gerhard Schröder and Amre Mussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, opened the Frankfurt Book Fair on Tuesday
Published:
6 October 2004 y., Wednesday
Chancellor Schröder welcomed his Arab guests and stressed the importance creating a cultural dialogue.
The 56th Annual Frankfurt Book Fair got underway on Tuesday with more than 6,700 exhibitors from 110 countries gathering to present their latest literary offerings. This year, the literature of the Arab world will be the subject of special focus: the 22 members of the Arab League -- with the exception of Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Kuwait and Iraq -- are serving as special guests.
At the opening festivities, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Amre Mussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, stressed the importance of using such events to foster a cultural dialogue between the Arab and Western worlds.
In his speech, Chancellor Schröder rebuked those who continue to view the Arab world through a lense of prejudice and preconceptions and heralded the Arab country's attendance at the book fair as a chance to set the record straight.
"Those who rely on false assumptions should be prepared to differentiate their views," said Schröder. "That's the only way to foster understanding between different cultures -- there is no better place for that to take place than at the Frankfurt Book Fair."
Extra security precautions were taken to ensure that all goes smoothly at this year's event, which will no doubt be dominated by political debate. Indeed, even the Chancellor touched upon certain hot button issues in his opening remarks, mentioning both the situation in Israel and in Iraq.
Šaltinis:
dw-world.de
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Preparations for the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead get underway in Mexico City as residents erect alters and bake bread for the deceased.
more »
In three resolutions adopted in Strasbourg on Thursday, the European Parliament restates its solidarity with O. Orlov, a member of the Russian human rights organization Memorial and winner of the 2009 EP Sakharov Prize, who is now facing trial, denounces the imprisonment of Cambodian opposition leader S. Rainsy and calls on Zimbabwe's President R. Mugabe to put an end to the threat of mass forced evictions.
more »
Marrying diligent driver behaviour, quality road infrastructure and sound vehicles for safer roads across Europe.
more »
A group of journalism students in Moscow pose semi-naked for a steamy calendar wishing Russia's prime minister a happy birthday.
more »
In the EU27 in 2008, 20% of women and 32% of men aged 25 to 34 lived with at least one of their parents.
more »
“Vertical” health funds targeting specific diseases such as AIDS, malaria or TB have achieved some success, but only at the cost of draining resources from basic “horizontal” health infrastructure such as clinics.
more »
This autumn, the 2010 European Job Days give jobseekers a chance to meet employers from all over Europe, and find out about working in other EU countries through seminars and workshops.
more »
During his visit to New York, on 27 September at the City University of New York, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Ažubalis, opened a photography exhibition dedicated to the Lithuanian Jewish cultural heritage and conferred an award of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on former Executive Director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
more »
The 26th of September marks the European Day of Languages. Perhaps the Knights of the Order of St John in the Middle Ages prided themselves about the fact that they had eight “langues” but Parliament does better with its daily “Headlines” on its website in 22 languages.
more »
A proposed new plan focuses on closing the pay gap and opening up company boardrooms to more women. Tackling domestic violence is also a top priority.
more »