def METHOD_NAME(date_obj, region_fmt='dateshort', del_fmt=':%S'):
    xbmc_region = getRegion(region_fmt).replace(del_fmt, '')  # Strip seconds from formatting durations
    date_string = date_obj.strftime(xbmc_region.encode('unicode-escape').decode())  # Avoid UnicodeEncode errors in strftime
    return date_string.encode().decode('unicode-escape')  # Restore Unicode characters