France/Menton suspends its twinning with Sochi in Russia, what are the other cities on the French Riviera doing?
In a letter to the mayor of Sochi, the twin cities of Menton and Baden-Baden in Germany, suspend their twinning with the Russian city. Other municipalities on the French Riviera are also associated with Russian cities.
More twinning for Menton with Russia ... at least until the end of the war in Ukraine.
In a letter addressed to the mayor of Sochi, the twin cities of Menton in the Alpes-Maritimes and Baden-Baden in Germany, announce to suspend their twinning with the Russian city until the full sovereignty of Ukraine is restored.
A statement posted on social networks and signed by the DVD mayor of Menton,Yves Juhel and the mayor of the city in the southwestern Black Forest, Baden-Baden.
The cities of Menton and Baden-Baden condemn in the strongest terms the war of aggression waged by Russia against Ukraine. President Putin does not respect international law and accepts without hesitation the death of innocent people. In the face of war in Europe, we cannot and will not remain neutral. We are committed to the values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
Yves Juhel and Margret Mergen.
"We couldn't stay like that".
Patrice Novelli, responsible for twinning at the town hall of Menton, explains:"we received a letter from the city of Baden-Baden with whom we are twinned and which is also twinned with Sochi in Russia. They proposed to condemn the attitude of Russia towards Ukraine by putting on hold the twinning relations we had with Sochi."
The deputy specifies that originally, in June 1966, it was a France-USSR twinning because at that time Sochi was part of the Soviet empire. A rapprochement between two seaside cities, one on the shores of the Mediterranean and the other near the Black Sea.
A twinning on paper because there was little relationship between the two cities. Menton is more linked with Baden-Baden in Germany and Montreux in Switzerland.
It is a symbolic decision but we could not stay like that.
Patrice Novelli
Cultural, linguistic and apolitical association
When contacted, the president of the association Menton-Sotchi, friendly France-Russia, Etiennette Boutou minimizes the contacts with the Russian city:"It is certain that we had no more contacts with the city of Sochi for several years. A last trip had been organized to meet with the city hall with a delegation of Jean-Claude Guibal (former mayor of Menton) ... 3 or 4 years ago, before the Covid."
"We had been there in March and the delegation from Sochi had come in the summer. But we had no more linguistic contacts with the city hall. I had tried to revive a little, but without success", explains the president.
The association quickly took up the cause to support the Ukrainians. A collection of 500 euros was even organized for the Secours Populaire. A position clearly affirmed during the last general assembly, on March 12, by displaying the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Etiennette Boutou says:"It was to explain that we were for the Ukrainians and on the side of the opponents of the war in Russia because there, censorship and propaganda are very strong.
She specifies that this association which counts 80 members was and will remain cultural, linguistic and apolitical. She is more interested in the great Russian writers such as Dostoyevsky or Tolstoy, or in the works of Prokoviev for the Opera... a composer who at the time had problems with the Stalinist censorship.
Conferences and musical shows were maintained, exclusively with Russian or Ukrainian themes.
At the beginning of the war, the association's mailbox received a few insulting messages, three or four"but mostly from people who wondered what our position was", says the president.
Etiennette Boutou insists: "It is culture above all that must be an element of peace. We have nothing to do with the Russians, supporters of an atrocious war."
This association no longer receives subsidies from the town hall of Menton.
What is a twinning?
We often see the sign at the entrance of municipalities, twinning between cities is common but not necessarily known.
The principle is to bring together the efforts of twin cities so that they can advance on common issues:
- to promote linguistic exchanges, tourism, culture,
- to deepen the knowledge between the two cities,
- support projects and maintain a certain friendship that benefits both twin cities.
In the PACA region, other cities are twinned with Russian cities:
- Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône) with Pskov, since 1976
- La Valette-du-Var (Var) with Novotcherkassk, since 1992
- Sanary-sur-Mer (Var) with Noguinsk: the flag was removed on February 24." Without wishing to offend Noguinsk, our twin city that we do not intend to disavow, symbolically, our municipality has decided to remove tomorrow the Russian flag of the Tourist Office, in support of Ukraine and peace in Europe and the world," explains the city on its Facebook account. Noguinsk is a city near Moscow, the twinning had been signed in 2010.
- Toulon (Var) with Kronstadt, since 1998
New twinning with Lviv
On March 14, the mayor (LR) of Cannes, David Lisnard formalized a new twinning with the city of Lviv in Ukraine.Back from a trip of a few days in the country at war, the elected official specified that "this partnership should allow to fluidify and adapt the food aid of Cannes to the needs of the population and the thousands of refugees that this city welcomes every day and to build the future."
The city of Cannes has nevertheless maintained "a friendship pact" with Moscow initiated in 1998.
David Lisnard is the president of theAssociation of Mayors of France.
Source: france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr
