On June 1, the General Assembly of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize was held. The subject of the meeting was ‘Future of European integration and integration within Europe’. The event was attended by nearly 30 people from 12 cities from Poland (Bolesławiec, Częstochowa, Lublin), Ukraine (Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi), Germany (Altötting, Mülheim, Würzburg, Darmstadt), France (Nancy), Spain (Donostia / San Sebastián) and representatives of the Council of Europe from Strasbourg. During the plenary session, participants discussed current challenges towards upcoming European integration, particularly in the light of Russia’s uninterrupted armed aggression on Ukraine.
The event accompanying the Assembly was the Youth Forum, where young people talked about the values binding all residents of the European Union as part of the workshop ‘Building trust in integration based on European values’. In the year of 15th anniversary of signing the partnership agreement between Lublin and Ivano-Frankivsk, Sviatoslav Nykorovych, Deputy Mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk was awarded a unique distinction, Medal of Union of Lublin by Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of Lublin.
Moreover, on Lublin’s initiative, city representatives and a representative of the Council of Europe signed a Joint Declaration on cooperation and further integration with inclusion, as well as on supporting Ukraine in applying for EU membership.
The meeting was crowned with a host election to chair the upcoming Presidium and subsequent General Assembly. Presidium of this year will be conducted by the Polish city of Boleslawiec, while the next General Assembly will be convened in the Spanish city of Donostia / San Sebastián.
Furthermore, the agenda included study visits to the youth space Hey!, Baobab integration centre and a visit to Holy Trinity Chapel at Lublin Castle. In the evening, the guests took part in an exceptional Night of Culture.
On June 2, some delegates took part in a study visit to Lviv, where they met Andriy Moskalenko, Deputy Mayor of Lviv. Thereafter, they visited the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Centre, where roughly 50,000 people yearly are assisted with physical and psychological rehabilitation after war trauma.
A final point of the visit to Lviv was the commemoration of the heroes who had fallen in the defence of Ukraine at Lychakiv Cemetery.
We are much obliged to all the participants and attendees of the General Assembly in Lublin for their participation. We are delighted to have been able to host this event for the second time.
