On 28 August, 33 years ago to the day, the then foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland - Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Roland Dumas and Krzysztof Skubiszewski - met in Weimar to establish the Weimar Triangle. Their signatures sealed the cooperation between the three countries that transcended bordersand they specifically assumed responsibility for the European integration process. Not all of the ambitious goals were subsequently fulfilled. Nevertheless, the three countries made a significant contribution to securing long-term peace in Europe. Today, the Weimar Triangle sees the exchange between civil societies, as expressed for example in the form of municipal partnerships or youth exchanges, as an essential contribution to closer cooperation between the citizens of the three countries in the centre of Europe.
Following the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the desire for cooperation and a common approach in Europe became more tangible again. A meeting of the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland in La Celle-Saint-Cloud (France) in February this year emphasised the urgency of reviving the Weimar Triangle with a focus on securing peace in Europe.
District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo, Chairman of the German-Polish Society Saar and member of the national board, goes one step further with his vision: "There are a number of ways to secure Europe and develop it positively. In addition to the 'Weimar Triangle', the nucleus of Europe with the three core states of France, Germany and Poland, we absolutely must include Ukraine today - I call it 'Weimar Triangle 2.0'. This line will be decisive in our commitment to democracy and to Europe as it was conceived and founded in the spirit of Robert Schuman."
What does this look like in practice? District Administrator Dr Gallo explains: "Our opportunities certainly continue to lie in France, in the close partnership that has been cultivated for a very long time at national level via Saarland and the Saarpfalz district with the Moselle department. But we also have opportunities with the partners of the "Weimar Triangle 2.0", with Poland and especially with Ukraine: the two eastern states, which existed for decades behind the "Iron Curtain" and thus cut off from the West, know how to recognise and appreciate the value of freedom and democracy due to their history, perhaps even more so now than is the case in the more western countries."
For years, the Saarpfalz district has consistently pursued the goal of involving Ukrainian regions at all levels and with the Polish partner districts. On 4 July 2022, it co-founded an "International Alliance for Peace and Cohesion in Europe", the "Homburg Alliance". It comprises 19 districts and regions from France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the USA.
Trinational partnerships exist on several levels: The Saarpfalz district, the Polish district of Przemyśl and the Ukrainian district of Lviv (previously Pustomyty) have formed a tri-national partnership since 2018. At state level, a partnership has existed between Saarland, the Podkarpackie Voivodeship and the Lviv Oblast since November 2023. In the cultural field, the Saarland Mining Museum in Bexbach, the Polish Museum of the Oil and Gas Industry in Bóbrka and the Ukrainian Lviv Coal Museum in the Lviv Oblast joined forces in May 2023. Last but not least, the encounters between pupils from France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine at the Spohns Haus ecological school hostel form a valuable basis.
"Lively alliances and partnerships are the fundamentally important municipal basis for cohesion at civil society level and therefore for a united Europe. This seemingly succinct statement may have been underestimated in its importance and dimension until now," concludes Dr Gallo.
He believes that cities, municipalities and districts have a particular role to play in civil society engagement: "Municipal partnerships are not limited to exchanges between representatives of the participating institutions, for example. Rather, their aim must be to promote and support direct exchange and dialogue between the citizens of the participating regions. It seems to be a commonplace that Europe does not take place in Brussels, but must be lived and practised in civil society. But for a variety of reasons, too little is still happening here. The more difficult the political climate is and the less big politics reaches the people with their needs, the more important it is for the citizens of our member states to be close to each other at the civil society level and the more this civic cohesion must be strengthened."
Robert Schuman, initiator and founding father of a united Europe, once said: "Europe is looking for itself; it knows that its future lies in its own hands." District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo: "This sentence is more relevant today than it has been for a long time, because the Europe that has secured us almost 80 years of peace is under threat in many respects. To protect it and develop it further, the Saarpfalz district is committed to a 'Weimar Triangle 2.0'."
Information on the district partnerships and the European work of the Saarpfalz district can be obtained from the head of the European Office, Dr Violetta Frys, by calling (06841) 104-8273 or sending an e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected].