News
The meeting of twin towns took place in our town between 4 and 6 August, to which 700 participants came from Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. During the three-day event, representatives of the twin cities discussed primarily the current economic and social situation of their settlements, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the community and economy, as well as solidarity actions against the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 
On the first day of the program, presentations took place, then the representatives of the delegations discussed the aftershocks of the pandemic with the involvement of a specialist, and developed strategies for solving them. In addition, a photo exhibition was opened for those interested, and participants could also join a folk song evening. On the second day, the focus was on the sense of European identity, the participants talked about what kind of Europe they would like to live in, how Euroscepticism can be destroyed. The topic of solidarity was also an important aspect of this day, as European countries discussed how to counter the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. On the third day of the event, the presentation of the Europe for Citizens project type to the representatives of the region played a prominent role, while various sporting events were also held in the spirit of fair play. 
In addition to the above-mentioned topics, we considered it important to plant the seeds of European identity in children and young people, so we set up a separate tent for them for the entire duration of the event. Here, the children took part in handicraft activities, which we coordinated with the help of our international volunteers. We gave young people an interactive presentation about Erasmus+ programmes, youth exchanges and European Solidarity Corps volunteering opportunities they can get involved in. 
During the event, cultural experiences were exchanged, participants could listen to and learn each other’s folk songs, folk dance performances were held, and we could discover each other’s gastronomy in the framework of a cooking competition. All these events were aimed at mutual acceptance, appreciation and preservation of our cultural values and reflection of European diversity. In addition, visitors to the event and the guests joined the Petőfi Memorial and Community Run, promoting the importance of time spent together and movement, and a friendly football match was held among the inhabitants of the settlements in the spirit of fair play. 
Overall, we can say that eventful days are behind us. The event attracted nearly 5,000 visitors in addition to the 700 invited guests. During the presentations, roundtable discussions and brainstorming sessions, solution strategies were developed that can be put into practice by representatives of all settlements after their return. The tent launched for young people and children was a great success, and we hope that in the future these young people will also be able to experience a sense of European identity even more. We have summarized the event in a brochure that you can find here: SEUCTC brosura.
The event was supported by the European Union.