Speech by Bernardka Krnc (Slovenia, R, NR), Mayor of Smarjeske Toplice, Head of the Slovenian delegation to the Congress

Brdo, Slovenia, 10.06.2009

The assets of cross-border co-operation for local and regional authorities of the south-east Europe: the viewpoint of Slovenia

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished chairmen, honoured minister for local self-government and regional development Mrs. Zlata PLOŠTAJNER, and other distinguished participants of this congress.

Today I have the honour to share with you my experience on cross-border operations of local communities in Slovenia and cooperation between them.

With a good 2 million inhabitants, Slovenia has 210 local communities. Among them, 10 are urban local communities or urban municipalities. Urban municipalities in Slovenia have been actively involved in cross-border cooperation for the past several years. The Town-Twinning project is the most outstanding project which enabled us to bond with comparable cities throughout Europe. This project encouraged local communities to sign agreements on friendly relations and cooperation with cross-border communities. Some municipalities or towns have signed agreements based on initiatives from companies in the region. The municipality of Novo mesto, the largest municipality in the south-eastern part of Slovenia, has closed partner agreements with seven cities – from EU countries (Germany, Italy, Spain), non-EU countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Monte Negro) and from China. The cooperation with some of these towns has been ongoing for the past 38 years, since 1971 with Leskovac in Serbia and with Herceg Novi in Monte Negro. Their cooperation takes place in the area of culture and sports, volunteer work, schooling and economy ‑ some internationally recognised companies have their headquarters in Novo mesto (the pharmaceutical company Krka, the company Revoz, member of Renault Group, Adria). Their friendly cooperation is consolidated with reciprocal annual visits and participation on cultural festivals and sporting events.

I come from a small local community, the municipality of Šmarješke Toplice in the south-eastern part of Slovenia, with only 3100 (three thousand and one hundred) inhabitants on an area of 34 square kilometers. Our municipality is all about tourism, the development of entrepreneurship and agriculture. The municipality also hosts one of the most modern thermal health resorts in Slovenia, Terme Šmarješke Toplice, which offer preventative programs, rehabilitation for cardiovascular diseases, and effective wellness programs. We have been an independent municipality only since January 2007 (before that date, our municipality was a part of municipality Novo mesto), that is why we do not have vast experience with cross-border actions. In the two years and a half of independent operations we have established friendly ties with a smaller municipality form the north-western part of Slovenia, just on the border with Austria, the municipality of Cankova, and signed a twinning agreement with them. The idea arose from several years of cooperation between tourist associations in both municipalities. Citizens of Šmarješke Toplice have been attending annual farm-skill competitions and soccer tournaments in the municipality of Cankova for several years now. Twinning between the municipalities of Šmarješke Toplice and Cankova has only deepened this type of relations and enriched mutual encounters between citizens.

The core purpose of twinning is to establish cooperation between the two municipalities in the areas of culture and sports, and partly even in the economic area. With this objective in mind, we are developing and strengthening our cooperation, mutual respect and understanding; elements, that are beneficial for all our citizens. Through acting in such a way we also contribute to an environment of human rights, democracy and peace.

Twinning offers a useful framework for strengthening the relationships between partner municipalities. One of its advantages is a diverse exchange that helps maintain friendly relations. Citizens from twinned municipalities have an opportunity to get to know each other. It is also appropriate for connecting people from different countries – for this reason, the municipality of Šmarješke Toplice will take all the necessary steps to twin with towns and municipalities from the EU and outside of the EU.

The municipality of Šmarješke Toplice is getting involved in cross-border cooperation through projects with international participation. In 2008, the municipality Šmarješke Toplice organized the second meeting of mayoresses of the EU, in collaboration with the Association of Slovenian Councils. 23 mayoresses from 8 EU countries took part in the meeting: we had attendance from Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia. The meeting lasted three days and took place throughout Slovenia, with the main happening in Šmarješke Toplice. The mayoresses had a chance to get to know Slovenia thoroughly. They visited the Ministry for Local Self-Government and Regional Policy and were welcomed by the then Minister Mr Ivan Žagar, and the Slovenian parliament. During their stay they familiarized themselves with the Slovenian political system and the functioning of local self-government in Slovenia.

The common thread of the meeting was the discussion about women in politics; a round table was held on this topic. Interesting is the conclusion that some countries have a very low percentage of women in politics despite obligatory quotas. For example, in Slovenia there are only 7 female mayors in 210 local communities, which is only 3.8% and which puts us at the bottom of EU. Scandinavian countries have the highest percentage of female mayors. In the debate on women in politics, the mayoresses presented several reasons for such a low percentage. They all agreed that harmonizing the roles of a mother, wife and active political character is extremely difficult. Firm support of families and colleagues is needed.

The main purpose of the meeting was to exchange experience with the running of local communities, exchange good practices, all with the possibility of future cooperation in business, cultural and political fields. The purpose of the meeting was certainly achieved. A mayoress from Malta, a cardiologist by profession, contacted us a week after the meeting, wishing to establish contact with the largest Slovenian pharmaceutical company Krka from Novo mesto that also develops cardiovascular medicine. During the meeting, the mayoresses visited the production line of this pharmaceutical.

The Slovene delegation plans to visit Latvia next year with the purpose of exchanging experience and good practices from the field of tourism. My personal wish for the municipality of Šmarješke Toplice is to sign a twinning agreement with a comparable municipality from the EU because we could gain with cooperation and good practice exchange in the tourism field.

On July 4^th 2009, the municipality of Šmarješke Toplice and the Slovene emigrant association will organize an international event, the 16^th meeting of Slovene emigrants. We expect around 300 participants from different countries who emigrated from Slovenia decades ago, out of several reasons, mostly economical. Five hundred thousand (500,000) Slovenians live abroad, that is one fifth of the nation. Slovenian communities in some EU states are very active, especially communities in Germany (Berlin and Stuttgart), Argentina and Canada.

The common thread of the meeting will be how we are connecting and how we would like to connect with our fellow countrymen around the world. We expect to exchange experience and suggestions, and to consequently establish cooperation within economical and social frameworks.

On local level, solidarity can be seen in common efforts for finding solutions to problems a local community is faced with, problems connected mostly to local self-government, business operations and migrations. Cooperation in specific projects is one of the foreseen elements of partner cooperation with other local communities and is also the best way to true solidarity and good solutions. Thus, local authorities have to be the ones who influence integration processes that can lead to a new dynamics in regional and global connections.

Thank you for your attention!