Tripartite twinning agreement between Khotyn (Ukraine), Żagań (Poland) and Teltow (Germany) was signed by the mayors of the cities.

This was announced by Andrii Dranchuk, Mayor of Khotyn, on social media.

According to Mr Dranchuk, the idea of tripartite cooperation between Żagań, Teltow and Hotyn was born during one of his trips to Germany.

“Żagań and Teltow have been sister cities for many years. Ours is the first tripartite agreement of this kind between local self-government bodies of three countries in this region. The document envisages cooperation and mutual support in social activities, business and culture,” wrote the mayor of Khotyn.

He stressed that the unique partnership was recognised at the state level by the top leadership of Poland and Germany.

“We received a letter from the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Murawiecki, and a video from the Federal Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, who both noted that this is an inspiring case of effective tripartite cooperation and assistance in overcoming the challenges of war. This consolidation of the efforts of three cities signals solidarity with the people whose reality has been defined by Russian aggression for almost a year now.”

Decentralization reminds that municipalities of Ukraine can use the International Municipal Partnership Guidelines to build communication with foreign municipalities and enter into twinning agreements. These Guidelines offer algorithms and practical advice on establishing a partnership, cases of successful partnerships, practical advice on customs clearance and accounting of various types of assistance that partners can exchange, information on how to choose partners, how to organise the work of competent professionals or division, as well as information on financing, bookkeeping and reporting and a lot of other useful information.

Based on these Guidelines, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine developed the Partnership for Recovery and Development section of the Decentralization national portal, with the support of DECIDE (Decentralisation for Improved Democratic Education), a Swiss-Ukrainian project, and the U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

These Guidelines are based on the methodology of the Council of Europe, City to City Cooperation, and developed by the Council of Europe as part of the Programme “Decentralisation and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine” at the request of the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.