Bursa Metropolitan Municipality’s membership to the B40 Balkan Cities Network, which was established to bring together local governments in the Balkans, has been finalized.
The 5th Annual Summit of the B40 Balkan Cities Network, which was established in 2021 to bring together local governments in the Balkans, an important region that forms the eastern borders of the European Union and the western leg of Eurasia, was held in Zagreb, Croatia.
Strong cooperation in the Balkans
At the summit, where mayors, local government representatives and experts in their fields came together, the membership of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, which has strong ties with the Balkans, was finalized. With this membership, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality will take an active role in concrete, collaborative and future-oriented projects aimed at increasing regional resilience through sustainable urbanism, democratic governance, cultural and economic cooperation.
“Bursa will take an active role in the Balkan geography”
Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Bozbey said that membership of the B40 Balkan Cities Network is a historical step. Emphasizing that they combine the deep-rooted historical and cultural ties with the Balkans with today’s vision and tomorrow’s projects, Mayor Mustafa Bozbey said, as a part of the most comprehensive local government network in Europe and the Balkans; He stated that they laid the institutional foundations of cooperation in many strategic areas, from green transformation to sustainable urbanism. Stating that they will transfer Bursa’s experience to the Balkan geography, where historical and cultural ties are strongest, Mayor Mustafa Bozbey said, “We will prepare our city for the future together with the economic projects we will implement. We will carry our brotherhood beyond borders much further with the goal of regional development and a common future.”
Information sharing between member cities
The topics of ‘Green transformation and sustainability’, ‘Cooperation in the field of culture and tourism’ and ‘Strengthening democracy and local democracy’ came to the fore in the summit program. Within the scope of the program, round table meetings were held among member cities aiming to increase information sharing and accelerate joint actions.
High level bilateral talks
Within the scope of the summit, B40 General Assembly, Executive Board Meeting and high-level bilateral meetings between city leaders were also held. The Local Democracy Panel, organized in cooperation with Eurocities, brought together the mayors of many major European cities and focused on the protection and strengthening of local democracy. Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Bozbey also held bilateral meetings with Thessaloniki Mayor Stelios Aggeloudis and Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomaševic within the scope of the program.
more than 60 members
The B40 Balkan Cities Network, which was established with the ‘Istanbul Declaration’ signed after the Istanbul Summit held in 2021 with the theme ‘Better Future, Better Cooperation’, currently has more than 60 member cities. – BURSA
