On the first day of his official visit to Hungary (2 to 4 December 2013) the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meets József Michl, the mayor of Tata, town co-winner of the 2013 Europe Prize with Altötting in Germany for being most active in promoting the European ideal.
Tata wa the second Hungarian town, after Szeged, to receive this award since its creation in 1955.The city of Tata, in the county of Komarom-Esztergom, in the North of Hungary was awarded for having organised more than 60 events in 2012 and enabled many cultural, sporting and school exchanges, and first of all having developed an extensive network of diverse exchanges with its nine twin towns.
Twin towns of Tata are: Alkmaar, Netherlands, since 1985, Gerlingen, Germany, since 1987, Dammarie-lès-Lys, France, since 1993, Arenzano, Italy, since 1994, Svodín, Slovakia, since 1997, Montebelluna, Italy, since 2000, Sovata, Romania, since 2002, Pińczów, Poland, since 2004 and Bystrice in Slovakia. Tata also joined the UNICEF initiative Child Friendly Cities.
However for Hungarians, Tata is mainly reputed for the pittoresque view beside the old lake, often background of wedding photos.
Jean-Claude Mignon will also give a press briefing in the Hungarian Parliament on the 4th of December 2013.
“A true parliamentary democracy must be backed up by a democratic political culture, one based on pluralism, on respect for the rights of all political forces," he said, during his working visit to Moscow, two weeks before, speaking on the occasion of the Second International Parliamentary Forum on “Constitution, Democracy, Parliamentarian”
sources: MTI, Hungarian news agency, assembly.coe.int