(ANSA) - UDINE, 30 SET - Representatives from Frankfurt on the Oder (Germany) and Slubice (Poland), Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy), Valga (Estonia), and Valka (Latvia) met today in Gorizia and Nova Gorica to share their vision for the future.

"We believe that Europe's strength lies in its intersections and crossroads, where people, languages, and cultures meet and enrich the social and cultural landscape," said the municipal administrators attending the summit.

"Cross-border cities play a strategic role in Europe's future and offer optimism in a period of uncertainty such as the one the continent is going through, especially in its easternmost lands - they added -; despite on the periphery of our countries, we have found opportunities to combine our resources and create the basis for a better life for our citizens. Moreover, cross-border cities have become champions of a different kind of integration in the EU: integration at the micro level, away from national governments and EU institutions." The case of EGTC GO and the first and only European Capital of Cross-border Culture Nova Gorica and Gorica 2025 were presented and discussed at the conference. (ANSA).