On 3 December 2022, the Presidium of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize met in Altötting (Germany).
Due to the lack of possibility to participate in person, some attendees took part in the meeting online.
Participants present in Altötting
- Mr Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk, Mayor of Częstochowa, President of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize;
- Mr Stephan Antwerpen, Mayor of Altötting, Vice-President of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize;
- Mr Herbert Hofauer, Former Mayor of Altötting;
- Mr Ralf Arnemann, Honorary Mayor of Darmstadt;
- Mr Markus Püll, Honorary Mayor of Mülheim an der Ruhr;
- Ms Sabine Kuzma, responsible for international cooperation in Mülheim an der Ruhr;
- Ms Joanna Iskierka, Director of the Mayor’s Office, City Hall of Częstochowa;
- Mr Daniel Zalejski, Mayor’s Office, City Hall of Częstochowa;
- Ms Stephanie Kopold, Municipality of Altötting.
Participants in the online meeting
- Ms Carmen Leyte, Chairperson of the Europe Prize Sub-Committee, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe;
- Mr Viktor Synyshyn, Secretary of the City Council of Ivano-Frankivsk;
- Ms Sofiia Tsikhovska, Chief Specialist of the Department of investment policy, projects, international relations, tourism and city promotion, Ivano-Frankivsk;
- Ms Anna Khokhlova, Head of International Relations and European Integration, International Cooperation Department, Kharkiv City Council;
- Ms Prisca Barthel, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Office;
- Mr Giampaolo Tarpignati, representative of the City of Udine in charge of European projects;
- Mr Ivan Nemichev, Chief Inspector of International Relations and European Integration, International Cooperation Department, Kharkiv City Council;
- Mr Oleksii Zeniakin, senior specialist of International Relations and European Integration, International Cooperation Department, Kharkiv City Council;
- Ms Verena Denry, responsible for international cooperation in the City of Nancy.
The proceedings were preceded by the European Union anthem performed by pupils from
the Altötting music school.
Course of the meeting
- Reception of the meeting participants by Mr Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk, President of the
Association, Mayor of the City of Częstochowa. - Welcome speech by Mr Stephan Antwerpen, Vice-President of the Association, Mayor of Altötting.
- Adoption of the agenda.
- Report by the President of the Association from the General Assembly in Strasbourg in June 2022.
- Presentation by Ms Verena Denry, representative of the City of Nancy, in charge of organising the event on behalf of Nancy.
Ms Denry assured the participants of her full organisational readiness and invited the member cities to participate in the event. She also emphasised that the organisers are keen to attract a large number of young people representing the various member cities to the event. She concluded by presenting a film which introduced the city of Nancy to those gathered. - Selection of the date for the 2023 General Assembly:
Nancy’s proposal to hold the event on 15-16 June 2023 was accepted by the Presidium members. - Selection of the subject for the 2023 Conference of Mayors and Youth Forum in Nancy:
Due to the crisis in Europe, first the one related to the Covid-19 pandemic and then to the war in Ukraine, rising inflation and the refugee crisis, the topic proposals made by the participants of the Presidium focused on issues related to countering the crisis in Europe. Czestochowa presented its topic proposal “Threats from the crises of the 21st century, Mülheim an der Ruhr “How does the war in Ukraine affect European cities?”
Participants highlighted that the topic should relate to the situation in Europe in recent years and give both city authorities and representatives of the young people attending the event the opportunity to have their voice heard.
As a result of the discussion, it was jointly agreed that the theme of the Conference of Mayors and the Youth Forum would be: “How do we as Europe Prize Cities translate our values of solidarity into action?”. - Speech by Ms Carmen Leyte, Chairperson of the Europe Prize Sub-Committee on cooperation within the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize.
In her speech, Madam Chair underlined, among other things, how important European solidarity and cooperation for peace are today in the Old Continent. - Information from the President on the forthcoming elections.
The President of the Association appealed to the attendees to prepare their candidatures in view of the elections to the Association’s Authorities, which will take place during the meeting in Nancy in June 2023. - Presentation of a film on the current situation in Kharkiv.
At the end of the meeting, on the initiative of Kharkiv, a film depicting the current situation of the city’s residents in the face of ongoing aggression from Russia was presented. - Conclusion of the meeting by the President of the Association.
Minutes by: Mr Daniel Zalejski, Mayor’s Office, Częstochowa City Hall.
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