Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of Lublin has been elected a new President of the Association of Towns awarded the Europe Prize and Lublin has become the Presiding City. The new authorities of the Association were elected for the period 2023-2025.
This year, the General Assembly of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize was held on June, 16 in Nancy (France), a partner city of Lublin. It concerned projects undertaken in providing assistance to the struggling Ukraine and its citizens. Members of the Association presented past experiences and good practices applied in their cities. In addition, Bolesławiec, this year's winner of the Europe Prize, presented its international projects during the event.
The election of the Association's authorities for the next term was a key agenda issue. The candidacy of Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of Lublin, was accepted unanimously. The cities of Częstochowa and Kharkiv will serve as Vice-President Cities. During the meeting, members of the Association's Presidium were also elected - Altötting (Germany), Khmelnitsky (Ukraine), Ivano-Frankivsk, Mülheim-an-der Ruhr (Germany), Würzburg (Germany), Darmstadt (Germany) and Nancy (France). Moreover, it was agreed upon, that General Assembly of the Association in 2024 will be held in Lublin.
The city of Nancy combined the event with the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List of the historic urban complex comprising Place de la Carrière, Place d'Alliance and Place Stanislas, the central square of the city named after the Polish king Stanislas Leszczyński. During the celebrations, a tripartite declaration was signed between Nancy, Lublin and Karlsruhe (Nancy's partner city) on assistance to Ukrainian cities. The Signatories of the agreement restated their unconditional support for Ukraine and declared their readiness to continue helping cities in need and to support them in their restoration attempts.
During the ceremony, the Mayor of Lublin Krzysztof Żuk appreciated help of Nancy to the war-stricken Ukraine. Mathieu Klein, Mayor of Nancy and President of the Grand Nancy Metropolitan Council, received „Lublin Bohaterom” Distinction. In addition, Verena Denry, a long-standing employee of the City of Nancy responsible for contacts with Lublin, including with regard to assistance for Ukrainian citizens, was awarded the Medal of Merit for the City of Lublin.
Nancy is one of Lublin's oldest partner cities. Cooperation has been ongoing for 35 years.
Lublin received the Prize of Europe in 2017 and has been a member of the Association since then. The Europe Prize is the highest distinction of those awarded each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to the municipalities most active in promoting European values and ideals. Lublin has been recognised as a city with solid and strong international cooperation in numerous areas (economic, cultural and educational), which is expressed in the multitude of projects carried out with foreign partners.
The Association of Cities awarded the Europe Prize has been existing since 1984. The Europe Prize was established in 1955 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to honour cities that were particularly active in promoting European ideals by partnering with other European cities and organizing European events and visit exchanges. To apply for the Award, municipalities must first apply for three other separate awards in the following order: the European Diploma, The Flag of Honor and the Plaque of Honor.
