Míriam de Saint-Germain, El Taquigrafo, 20 June 2022
Barcelona’s presence in the latest ‘Luxembourg Peace Prizes’ is indisputable. The Catalan capital is also an official candidate to host the World Peace Forum in 2023.
In a context of war in the heart of Europe, following the invasion of Russian troops into Ukrainian territory on 24 March, acts for and by peace are even more necessary. In this regard, for the last decade the European Union has been holding the Luxembourg Peace Prizes, an event that recognises the work of entities and organisations in contributing to world peace. The annual award ceremony, organised by the Schengen Foundation for Peace and the World Peace Forum, took place on Friday 17 June, with special recognition for institutions and personalities based in Barcelona. In fact, the city of Barcelona’s candidacy to host the World Peace Forum in 2023 was officially announced.
One of the highlights of the solemn event that took place last Friday in the historic Schuman Building, the seat of the first European Parliament in Luxembourg, was the appointment of Josep Félix Bentz, current president of the Reial Cercle Artístic de Barcelona and of the European Promotion Foundation, as the new international president of the World Peace Forum. The appointment was made by the president of the Schengen Peace Foundation, Vicky Hansen, one of the organisations that run the awards ceremony.
Barcelona for peace
But Barcelona’s participation does not end here. In addition to this very important appointment, at the same event the Barcelona Peace 2025 Association and the FC Barcelona Foundation were awarded the “Outstanding Public Peace Efforts” and “Outstanding Sports for Peace” prizes, respectively.
The event was attended by many well-known faces from the European scene, including the Spanish ambassador in Luxembourg, Bernardo de Sicart Escoda; the delegate of the Government of Catalonia in Brussels, Gorka Knörr; as well as representatives of PIMEC. Of course, also in attendance were the president of the Barcelona Paz 2025 Association, Josep Cuellar, and representatives of the FC Barcelona Foundation, who were in charge of receiving and collecting the awards.
Text translated by Deepl.com/Translator
