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26 nov 2007
The Belgian city of Dinant was interested in twinning with the Bulgaria city of Veliko Turnovo, mayor of Dinant, Richard Fournaux told Bulgarian News Agency BTA, as reported by Bulgarian National Radio BNR.
Dinant is situated in the province of Namur in the French speaking Walloon Region of Belgium. The city is picturesquely located on the Meuse or Maas River.
Over the last couple of days, the Bulgarian nurses, who had been imprisoned in Libya over deliberate HIV infections, visited Dinant. While they were in prison in Libya, one of the most impressive campaigns in their defence in Belgium and Western Europe started from Dinant. The authorities in Dinant decided that a large photo of the Bulgarian nurses behind prison bars would be hung in the city hall building. Mayor Richard Fournaux called on all Belgian municipalities to follow Dinant's example and to remove the photo's only after the Bulgarian nurses would have been freed.
After the campaigns in the nurses' defence and after they had been welcomed in Dinant, the idea of twinning with a Bulgarian city came up. Veliko Turnovo was found to be very similar to Dinant, with a similar size population, similar picturesque architecture, both cities were located near a river and in a similar region, Fournaux told BTA as reported by BNR.
He added that at the beginning of 2008 he would officially ask the municipal council to approve the city twinning between Dinant and Veliko Turnovo. Fournaux did not expect there would be any problems with accepting his proposition.
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