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Information letter of the association for the promotion of town twinning

With an information letter the chairman of the town twinning association, Reiner Wellmann, addresses the association members

“Dear members of the Town Twinning Association.

It is difficult to find the right words to start in these turbulent times. The terrible news about Russia’s war of aggression kept us all busy since last Thursday. And the events also show how closely we, as organizers of meetings and mediators of contacts, are connected with current events. The people in our twin town Trakai have a much more emotional perception of the events. On the one hand, because the Baltic States have always observed very closely how the Kremlin has acted in its sphere of influence since the peacefully gained independence. But on the other hand, the targeted smuggling of refugees from Belarus last summer was already interpreted as a form of hybrid warfare. And Trakai has been twinned with the Ukrainian cities of Luzk and Ivano-Frankivsk for many years. We would like to support these aids of Trakai for the two directly affected cities.

We have offered our support to our partners in Trakai and to the local government. It should be targeted and effective. Possibly we will call for donations. The coordination is currently underway in cooperation with the city of Rheine. As soon as we have an answer from our partner city, we will become active. We would be very happy if we also get support from the membership of the twinning association – in whatever form. We will announce the details in the Münsterländische Volkszeitung.

Three days before the beginning of the war, the board had met. We were in good spirits – and we decided on a few things that I would like to inform you about.

1. We have now postponed the general meeting, which according to the statutes actually has to take place in March, to May 6. We will meet at 6 p.m. at the Portuguese Leisure Center on Stoverner Strasse. We have brought the start date forward so that there will be enough time for discussion and exchange of ideas. Please make a note of the date now. The invitation with the agenda will be sent to you in good time at the end of April.
2. We have decided to revive the popular “Friends of Town Twinning” meetings. The first meeting this year will be held on March 16 at 10 a.m. in the coffee house at the Bönekerskapelle. We have reserved the room on the left side of the building for us. Space is limited, so please register by calling T. 05971/939221 or emailing heike. If there are more participants than we can accommodate there, we will find a suitable place.
3. We want to participate again in the event “Borne op z`n Best” Date: Sunday, April 22, 2022 We will use a bus. More details will follow.
4. We will also offer a trip to the Rose Festival in Bernburg in early June, from June 3 – 5. The bus trip will cost 40 euros per person, and the overnight stay in a double room will be about 85 euros/night. Besides the visit of the festival, guided tours and sightseeing will be on the program. Registrations takes Heike born under T. 05971/939221 orper email against.
5. The bicycle tour offered by Engelbert Nagelschmidt to Bernburg to the rose celebration was pleasingly fast fully booked. We meet with the cyclists in Bernburg with the city celebration and take the sporty ambassadors of our city gladly in the coach again back into our city.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to a highly interesting information event on March 8 (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. in the forum of the Gymnasium Dionysianum. The long-time military attaché of the German embassy in Moscow, Brigadier General (ret.) Reiner Schwalb will speak on the topic “Russia – a country full of contradictions”. The organizer is our cooperation partner, the Rheine section of the Society for Security Policy. In view of the current events, this event should really be a highly interesting information opportunity.

In these moving times, the logo of our homepage with the title “friendsineurope” has acquired, in my opinion, an outstanding significance. We could not have foreseen all this when we made the preparations last year together with the communications agency “expectmore”. I would like to recommend that you take a look at www.friendsineurope.com from time to time. We provide very up-to-date information there about what is happening in our partner cities. Especially now, in this exceptional historical situation.

I wish you all the best in these extremely stressful times. And I wish for nothing more than to be able to send the next newsletter of the twinning association under more beautiful and hopeful circumstances again.”