Present during the reception was a representative of His Majesty King Mswati III, Prince Senzangakhona, the Deputy Prime Minister, Thuli Dladla, Cabinet Ministers, government officials and civil society members.

Speaking during the reception, EU Ambassador to Eswatini, Dessislava Choumelova, said Europe Day was an opportunity to celebrate the EU’s many achievements including its role as a major global actor greatly contributing to peace, stability and sustainable growth around the world over the last 74 years.

Ambassador Choumelova said the EU itself, born in the ashes of war as a peace project, has today gone a long way to achieve peace, unity and prosperity in Europe. She said the EU, together with its 27 Member States, was working to improve the lives of European citizens and of people around the world.

The Ambassador said the EU dedicates around 10% of its budget to external action and said this stems from the EU’s will to contribute to global development, help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

In Eswatini, Ambassador Choumelova said for over 50 years, the EU has been a major and reliable partner of the Kingdom’s development initiatives. She said the EU has contributed billions of Emalangeni (Eswatini currency) to help the country improve access to clean and potable water, electricity, free primary education, health (including access to vaccines), sustainable and climate-smart agriculture, infrastructure development, strengthening of governance, democracy and human rights, social protection, disaster risk management, institutional capacity building and trade facilitation.

Earlier, during the inauguration of the EU Book Corner, The EU Delegation also helped to launch a local book authored by a local hip-hop artist, Thamsanqa “Krtc” Sibandze. Titled “The 10 Pillars of Artistic Mastery”, the book provides much needed guidance for aspiring and young artists on the path towards artistic growth and mastery for greatness.

In her speech during the launch, Ambassador Choumelova said the value of culture and education was reflected in the EU moto ‘United in Diversity’. She said the moto illustrates how Europeans have come together, in the form of the EU, to work for peace and prosperity for European citizens.

The Ambassador said for Europe, art and culture are freedom – freedom to create and express, to share and connect and to broaden horizons.

She was grateful for the partnership with the National Library, which has seen the launch of the EU Book Corner. EU Member States - Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Sweden provided the books for the Corner. Books from Ireland and Spain are yet to arrive.

The Ambassador invited emaSwati to make use of the EU Book Corner for research, learning and access to information.