Dear friends,

The latest Baltic Cities Bulletin, entitled 'Town twinning in the Baltic Sea Region', has just come out.

The Union of the Baltic Cities is the biggest organisation grouping local authorities in the region. The potential is even greater if we add all twin cities within the network and in the whole Baltic Sea Region. The majority of the UBC cities have at least two twin towns, many have even several. This makes our organization a far larger network, with an enormous capabilities. But here many questions come up. Is twinning fully exploited? Is it still relevant in the times when short-term cooperation projects seem to be prevailing? Does it bring any direct benefits to the citizens? Do we need formalized ties with other cities at all? Aren’t we a big European and Baltic family yet?

This issue of the Bulletin attempts at addressing all these questions. The cities’ stories present the roots of their international relations and their impact on the local development, evoke the touching moments from the past, provide an outlook on the future prospects.

Also, the Bulletin informs about the latest UBC meetings and activities, news from the member cities and more.

The Bulletin will be sent out to the member cities by post. As of today, it is available on-line at www.ubc.net

With kind regards,
Paweł Żaboklicki