On the picture Ambassador Victoria Bataclan posing with the students.
Brussels, 10 August 2015. — Some 40 Japanese, Korean and Belgian international politics students visited the Embassy last August 7 as part of the activities of the European Summer Academy of Otzenhausen (Germany) to learn more about the Philippines’ engagement with the European Union.
As requested by the students’ professors, Ambassador Victoria S. Bataclan delivered a presentation/briefing on the “Regional Integration and Cooperation – the EU and Asia in 2015,” specifically outlining the Philippine involvement in EU programmes and other ASEAN and international organization issues followed by a discussion of issues confronting the Philippines and the EU, the ASEAN and the international organizations. Ambassador Bataclan announced that the Philippines is now a net creditor of the International Monetary Fund and has received very favorable ratings from all credit rating institutions.
The delegation, led by Prof. Sebastian Zeitzmann of the European Academy of Otzenhausen, was composed of 18 Japanese master’s students in German and European studies with focus on politics, economics, culture, arts and languages from the University of Tokyo; 10 Korean master’s students in politics and international students; and 12 Belgian undergraduate students from the Ghent University. Prof. Dr. Yuichi Morii of the University of Tokyo, Prof. Thomas Kalinowski of Seoul, Ms. Lisa Fetzer of the European Academy and Dr. Wolfgang Pape of the European Commission accompanied the group.
Prof. Zeitzmann confided that the visit of the participants of the European Spring Academy in May 2014 to Brussels Philippine Embassy left a lasting imprint because of “genuinely warm” reception which the participants then received from Ambassador Bataclan and her team. Thus, they decided that the European Summer Academy 2015 also experience the hospitality of the Philippine Embassy in Brussels.
The European Summer Academy 2015 runs from 02 to 12 August 2015 and is a collaborative venture of the European Academy of Otzenhausen (EAO), the ASKO Europa-Stiftung (AES) of Saarbrücken, the University of Tokyo, the Ewha Womans University in Seoul, the Centre International de Formation Européene (CIFE) in Nice, the Europa-Institut of Saarland University, and the University of Ghent in Belgium. The programme includes visits to the ASKO-Europa Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the European Parliament, and the European Commission.
For more information:
Mission of the Philippines to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg: http://philembassy.be/
Europa-Institut of Saarland University: www.europainstitut.de/
European Academy of Otzenhausen: www.citizensforeurope.eu/organisation/european-academy-otzenhausen
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Text and photographs by Embassy of the Philippines to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg (www.facebook.com/philippineembassy.brussels)
