HLUBOKA CASTLE IN CZECH REPUBLIC TO HOST THE EUROPEAN MINISTERS
The Czech European Union presidency began on January 1. The opening gala meeting of the European Commission members naturally took place in Prague, yet also other towns and cities are going to have the honour of hosting the conferences of the top EU representatives. One of them is the south Bohemian town of Hluboka nad Vltavou.
In the local castle, that is a part of the Czech national culture heritage, an informal meeting of the 27 foreign affairs ministers of the member states of the EU and 8 foreign affairs ministers of the west Balkan countries will take place on March, 27 to 28. The ministers' suites, bodyguards and over 250 journalists from all over Europe will occupy the premises of the castle as well as most of the nearby 4* hotels and restaurants.
"The Hluboka castle proved to be ready for such huge event by winning the selection procedure. The requirements for infrastructure were quite demanding and we managed to meet all the criteria," said the Hluboka nad Vltavou mayor Tomas Jirsa and added: "There are 200 rooms in four-star hotels at disposal in Hluboka as well as other towns around. We take the whole matter very seriously. We want to present our town and the castle at their best, all the restaurants and shops will extend their opening hours and there will be a large scale of special events".
The minister delegations will for example visit the Hluboka game park, the Ponesice distillery or the city of Cesky Krumlov which is on the UNESCO list of world heritage.
During the meeting however the castle will remain closed for public. The citizens from Hluboka and the whole region may suffer from minor inconveniences such as local traffic jams but the government of the Southbohemian Region believes that the positive effects – especially promotion of the region abroad – will prevail.
January 15, 2009
Posted in: Czech Republic