Attending the meeting were officials from the Hungarian city of Pécs, the German city of Essen and Istanbul, which will share the title European Capital of Culture in 2010. They were joined by officials from the German cities which applied for the title, Görlitz, Halle, Karlsruhe, Augsburg and Bremen, as well as officials from the Hungarian cities of Miskolc, Győr and Veszprém.
The aim of the conference, organised by Germany?s Foreign Ministry, was to encourage cooperation among the cities and plant the seed for a new cultural network in Europe.
It is important to maintain cultural links and dialogues between cities and regions, because national features and cultural differences enrich cooperation, State Secretary at Germany?s Foreign Ministry Georg Boomgaarden said in a speech opening the conference.
Pécs Mayor Péter Tasnádi told the Hungarian News Agency (MTI) that culture is an area where cross-border cooperation plays an especially important role. Pécs is a multicultural city and it is very much interested in presenting European culture. In exchange, Pécs would also like to present itself to Europe.
Tasnádi noted that winning the title European Capital of Culture in 2010 was not only a victory for Pécs, but for other applicants as well, as it had started certain irreversible processes in these cities. He said a conference would meet in December to involve other Hungarian cities in Pécs?s preparations for 2010.
Currently, Pécs is slightly behind in its preparations for 2010, Tasnádi said, though he offered his assurance the city would catch up.
A local official from Istanbul told MTI he was certain Istanbul?s chance to introduce itself in 2010 as a European Capital of Culture, would advance its efforts to become a member of the European Union.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
