Mezei István: Urban development in Slovakia (Pécs-Somorja, 2010)

6. Towns along the Hungarian and Slovak border

Towns along the Hungarian and Slovak border

6. 3 The organizational forms of cooperation

6. 3. 1 Twin-town relations

It is a characteristic feature of twin-town relations that they are not confined to cross-border relations, as such cooperation may just as well be possible with a settlement on any other continent. Therefore, this form of relations belongs to transnational relations. However, it is natural for settlements close to the border to establish cooperation with settlements on the other side.

Table 41. International relations of towns in Slovakia

With neighbouring country

188

With member state of the European Union

84

With third country in Europe

30

Total in European countries:

302

On another continent

22

Total relations:

324

Number of towns publishing data:

68

Source: home pages of Slovak towns

Table 42. Relations of towns in Slovakia with the neighbouring countries

Neighbouring country

8 counties (the whole of Slovakia)

5 counties

(counties by the Hungarian border)

number%

number

%

Czech Republic

65

34.57

37

33.94

Poland

58

30.85

23

21.10

Hungary

48

25.53

40

36.70

Ukraine

10

5.32

4

3.67

Austria

7

3.72

5

4.59

total

188

109

Source: home pages of the particular Slovak towns

Twin-town relations are continuously expanding. In the course of time, however, they first tend to take the form of project-based cooperation and then they start organizing services together. With Slovakia becoming a member of the European Union, Slovak towns grabbed the opportunity to establish formal relations with other towns.

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