On October 11, 2024, representatives of the European twin cities of Tornio-Haparanda (FI-SE), Valga-Valka (EE-LV) and Gorizia-Nova Gorica (IT-SI) met with the city leaders of Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice at Frankfurt City Hall.
The focus of the exchange was on joint, cross-border urban development projects. Mayor René Wilke and Deputy Mayor of Słubice Tomasz Stefański presented the area on Slubice Street as a core element of the Frankfurt-Słubice Master Plan 2025–2035, which includes joint traffic and city center planning and a feasibility study for a second and third bridge. The guests from Estonia and Latvia, Italy and Slovenia shared their experiences with the construction of cross-border urban spaces, the "New Town Center" in Valga-Valka and the "Europe Square" in Gorizia-Nova Gorica. For the Finnish-Swedish delegation, the local ideas for the development of the area on Slubice Street were of particular interest, as they also have a very similar, previously unused area on the Swedish side in the immediate vicinity of the border.
The four twin cities have resolved to raise their joint profile as a laboratory and beacon of European integration, particularly with regard to the next EU funding period 2028–2034. With this in mind, the guests from Tornio-Haparanda and Valga-Valka took away the experiences of Gorizia-Nova Gorica with their EGTC (European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation), which has been in existence since 2011 and from which Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice are also benefiting in their current EGTC establishment process.
The next meeting is planned for 2025 at the invitation of the EGTC GO. Nova Gorica and Gorizia will then be the first twin city to jointly hold the title of "European Capital of Culture" for an entire year.