Mayors of V4 countries’ capitals sign “Pact of Free Cities”

Photo: facebook.com/karacsonygergely/

The mayors of the four capitals of the so-called Visegrad or V4 countries (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) signed a joint declaration in order to combine their forces in seeking European Union (EU) funding for their respective cities here on Monday.

“We, the mayors of Bratislava, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw hereby commit to supporting and jointly advocating towards EU institutions, agencies and decision makers prospective EU urban programs that would provide more direct funding for European cities,” the mayors said in a document entitled the “Pact of Free Cities.”

The signatories also commit to “coordinating efforts to advocate city-tailored solutions in the European policies, especially in the Cohesion Policy, European employment, environmental, climate, energy, transport and economic policies, as well as during the legislative construction of the European Pillar of Social Rights.”

Photo: facebook.com/karacsonygergely/

The document was signed in Budapest by Mayors Matus Vallo of Bratislava, Gergely Karácsony of Budapest, Zdenek Hrib of Prague and Rafal Trzaskowski of Warsaw.

The city leaders also vowed to share their “best practices in smart, evidence-based and socially aware city management, especially in the field of sustainable city planning, climate protection, social inclusion, housing, transportation, the digital agenda or any other field of mutual interest.”