In view of the events in Georgia in recent weeks, the Riga local government has decided to temporarily suspend the cooperation agreement with Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, which is Riga's twin city, after consulting the City Council's Fractional Council.
"What is happening in Georgia is undoubtedly worrying, and deviating from the European path is not in the interests of the Georgian people. We must support the people of Georgia in their desire for a democratic, law-abiding and European state by all means, which is why we have decided to suspend our cooperation agreement with the capital of this country as a clear sign of our attitude to what is happening. We will follow developments closely, consult with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and be in constant contact with the Georgian community in Latvia," said the Riga Mayor Vilnis Ķirsis.
The Riga local government has decided to temporarily suspend the agreement on cooperation between the Riga City Council and Tbilisi in the fields of trade, economy, science and technology, humanities and culture signed on 3 April 2007.
The Twin Cities movement has its origins in the aftermath of the Second World War, in line with the desire of nations and city dwellers to strengthen understanding and friendship between different cultures, to promote peace, and to strengthen trade links and tourism.
Riga's first contacts with foreign cities were in the 1960s with Pori in Finland and Rostock in the German Democratic Republic. In the following years, the network of twin cities gradually expanded, from the mid-1970s onwards establishing links with cities in Europe as well as in other regions and continents.
As a metropolitan city in the Baltic region, Riga is an attractive international cooperation partner for existing twin cities, as well as for local governments, regions and international organisations from other countries. Local government twinning, based on trusting relationships, can be a true source of mutual enrichment through the development of new forms of cooperation, the exchange of experience and good practice, joint reflection on the changes that need to be faced and joint efforts to actively support environmental and infrastructure development.
Riga has 25 twin cities on five continents, with which it has signed agreements to cooperate in the fields of culture and education, traffic management and urban development, health, tourism, investment, business, environmental protection and more.
The termination of the cooperation agreement with Tbilisi was called for by the Riga City Council fraction of the "Progresīvie" party, in view of the events in Georgia since the parliamentary elections on 26 October and the statements of the Tbilisi Mayor and Secretary General of the "Georgian Dream" Kakha Kaladze, who called the ongoing protests a "diversion and an attempted coup d'état".
Information was prepared by: Mārtiņš Vilemsons, Acting Director at External Communication Department of the Riga City Council, email: martins.vilemsons@riga.lv