Herceg Novi Municipality has formalised its friendship with the Portuguese city of Estarreja with a memorandum signed by the mayors of the two municipalities, Stevan Katić and Diamatino Sabina. As announced after the signing, the Memorandum of Friendship and Cooperation aims to deepen and strengthen ties, with the intention of a future twinning between the two municipalities.
According to the mayor’s office, friendly relations between Estarreja and Herceg Novi have been ongoing for several years, and were established under the auspices of the cross-border project “TIPS4EU”. Partnership in the project enabled the two municipalities to gain insight into spatial and socio-economic specificities, as well as an affinity with each other. The partners then decided to sign the Memorandum, bearing in mind the significance of fostering cooperation and friendship between European municipalities, with an emphasis on exchanging experiences in various areas of development and promotion of intercultural dialogue.
“As city leaders, we need to develop international cooperation, we have an obligation to be open towards other cities and foster friendship. We always have a lot to learn from each other,” stated the Mayor of Estarreja Municipality, Diamantino Sabina.
Signing of Memorandum - Herceg Novi Municipality
As he stated, Herceg Novi and Estarreja have many geographical and cultural differences, but also have similarities. Both are coastal cities, and their people share the same mentality - open-minded and hospitable.
We are all the same if our heart is in the same place. I am certain that our cooperation will be very fruitful and, despite our linguistic differences, we will understand each other very well,” announced Sabina.
Signing of memorandum Herceg Novi Estarreja - Herceg Novi Municipality
He called on the leaders of Herceg Novi to make a return visit, in order to better understand the possibilities in the areas where links could be established.
There is significant space for cooperation in the area of culture, bearing in mind that the two cities are quite similar when it comes to what they offer culturally.
“Estarreja also holds a carnival, similar in some ways to our Mimosa, and also has a street art festival. It is interesting that both cities have houses belonging to Nobel Laureates, in Estarreja belonging to António Egas Moniz who received the prize for medicine, and in Herceg Novi belonging to writer Ivo Andrić,” stated the Mayor of Herceg Novi Municipality Stevan Katić.
He added that they planned to apply jointly for financing from international funds, through which both cities would aim to secure financial support for a range of projects.
The local authorities state that the signing of the Memorandum with Estarreja is just the start of active cooperation between Herceg Novi and numerous local governments. Over the past two years, friendship and twinning agreements have been signed with cities in China, Russia, Western Europe and the region. The ultimate goal is to make better use of opportunities for cooperation, that is the development of cultural, economic, tourism and scientific cooperation, and cooperation in the area of environmental protection and promotion, as well as for exchanging ideas and experiences, and better understanding of cultural, ethnographic and social values.
Source - radiojadran.com
