The initiative for the signing of the Treaty was set in motion by the City of Rome, during the first visit of the mayor of Rome to Rijeka in February last year. A proposal of the treaty was adopted by the Rijeka City Council at a meeting held on May 27, 2010. On behalf of the City of Rijeka, the signing of the treaty on the Capitol was, in addition to the mayor, attended by Dorotea Pešić Bukovac, president of the City Council, and Tomislav Vidošević, ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Italy.
The City of Rome's delegation at the signing constituted of Gianni Alemanno, the mayor of Rome, Laura Marsilio, member of the Rome City Council's Board of Education and Youth and other associates.
Mayor Obersnel expressed his gratitude for the invitation and the initiative, stressing that the greatest value of this Treaty lies in the future of connecting youth on an European level, and in the cooperation between Italian and Croatian schools, towards which concrete initiatives will be launched. "History should not be forgotten, but we must also turn towards the future and, regardless of a partially turbulent history, we hope for good cooperation", said Obersnel, also expressing the hope that Rijeka would be elected host of the Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (BJCEM) , so that cooperation could also be developed in that aspect.
The mayor of Rome, Alemanno, considers this treaty an important incentive for cooperation, while expressing the hope that it would also aid in speeding up Croatia's accession to the European Union."Croatia has developed beyond its turbulent past and is moving forward, while some matters, such as border issues and the status of minorities, have been surmounted long ago", said Alemanno.
The City Councils of both cities will support close cooperation by organising exhibitions, festivals and popular cultural events, and will make the organisation of promotional events in the partner city easier. The treaty was signed for a period of three years, and will be able to be extended for three futher years if both parties consent so.
After the reception at mayor Alemanno's, mayor Obersnel and Jerica Ziherl, director of the MMSU, presented the city's application for hosting the BJCEM in 2015. The holder of the application is the art film "Mama s razlogom se brineš" ("Mum, There's Reason to Be Concerned"), which in an unusual manner portrays Rijeka's uniqueness and the contagiousness of its spirit. The mayor invited the president of the BJCEM web, Mr Luigi Ratclif, to visit Rijeka and feel this spirit, and thus see for himself why Rijeka would be the perfect place to host young people.
This year the City of Rijeka has become a member of the international BJCEM network, which holder is the MMSU. The Rijeka Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is the only Croatian member of this association and has been continuously participating in the biennale since 1990 – though, during the 24 years of its existence it has never hosted it.
(I.N.)