County of Przemyśl
German-Polish contacts in the Saarpfalz district have a tradition of almost 20 years, with the longest partnership being with the district of Przemyśl. The cooperation between the two districts has its origins in cultural and school exchanges, which have been taking place regularly since 1997 and are supported and kept alive by the cultural association "Begegnungen auf der Grenze - Spotkania na granicy - Rencontres à la frontière", some schools in the Saarpfalz district and the ecological school hostel "Spohns Haus" in Gersheim, among others.
The encounters between the district of Przemyśl and the Saarpfalz district were characterised by openness and a creative drive from the very beginning. The respective border locations with France and Ukraine were actively utilised to enrich the bilateral exchanges by integrating further national perspectives and to strengthen regional cohesion by implementing social cooperation projects (e.g. COMENIUS-Regio project "Key competences for the workplace" 2009-2011). With this in mind, the joint vision of "contributing to the realisation of a common Europe of citizens in peace and friendship" was sealed on 13 May 2011 with the signing of an official district partnership by District Councillors Clemens Lindemann and Jan Pączek.
District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo was happy to take up this vision in order to further develop the existing contacts with the district of Przemyśl in the spirit of the European idea. To underline the importance of the cooperation, the partnership was officially re-established at his instigation on 1 September 2017 during a special meeting of the district council in Przemyśl with his colleague Jan Pączek. Since then, numerous reciprocal delegation visits and intensive technical discussions have made the links increasingly closer and more concrete in terms of topics. For example, opportunities for an exchange of employees between the two district administrations have been explored and prospects for cooperation in the context of recruiting and integrating Polish nursing staff have been opened up.
The good and long-standing relations between the two districts were also a key factor in establishing a partnership with the Ukrainian
Pustomyty district and facilitated the rapid and targeted agreement on joint aid activities in the context of the current crisis situation caused by the war in Ukraine. The district of Przemyśl is also an alliance partner of the " International Alliance for Peace and Cohesion in Europe".
