Michel Morel, President of UNJPT honoured

Michel Morel, president of the Union Nationale des Jumelages Poste et Télécoms (the French federation), was awarded the gold medal of Jumelages during the General Assembly of this organisation, held in September 2022 in Tregunc (Brittany).

The Honorary Presidents of the UNJPT, Marie-Paule Richonnier and André Szypura, together with the President of Eurojumelages Peter Backes were present for the award.

Michel Morel is one of the founders of the Association of Jumelages de la Loire in 1976 and was responsible for relations with Germany. He occupied the post of President of this association for 17 years.

Michel was elected to the UNJPT board in 1996 at the general assembly in Hauteville-sur-Mer under the presidency of Claude Giroux. He is the initiator of the event which sees members walking the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James); these walks have been organised successfully for 5 years and attracted many participants.

From 2003 to 2006, Michel was Secretary General of the Union under the presidency of Marie-Paule Richonnier. In 2006, he became President and since then has been piloting and leading the noble and worthy twinning movement in France.

Michel Morel has been the UNJPT representative at Eurojumelages, the European Twinning federation, and has occupied the post of vice-president of this organisation for several years.

The gold medal awarded to him recognises and celebrates the 46 years that Michel Morel has worked on a voluntary basis within the twinning movements.

 Dear friends of Eurojumelages,

Easter is the celebration of hope, the hope for peace.

The terrible events in Ukraine - in the heart of Europe - have pushed the Corona crisis into the background, even though it has not yet been overcome.
The terrible images of destruction in Ukraine and the horrific suffering of the Ukrainian people caused by a brutal, inhumane war of aggression brought before our eyes every day move us all deeply.
Many Ukrainian people have been forced to abandon their homes and have become refugees, facing an uncertain future.
It is precisely here that the European countries, primarily Poland and Romania, are showing great solidarity with the people who have fled the devastation. This is international solidarity and understanding in action!
In these troubled times it becomes more important than ever to actively promote the ideals that Eurojumelages stands for: "Let us build Europe's house of peace together“. The idea that unites us expresses itself our Eurojumelages Anthem.
Despite the upheaval in Europe caused by the war, we must try to continue to live our lives whilst helping our brethren. Our Eurojumelages calendar of activities for 2022 is both interesting and extensive and nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing as many Jumeleurs as possible take up one or more of the offers and actively participate in the events.
I would like to thank the organisers most sincerely for always giving us events of the highest level with great commitment and making them a wonderful experience for the participants time and again.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish all of you and your loved ones a happy and blessed Easter.
Stay healthy!

Sincerely,
Peter Backes

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traditions and customs

Dear Eurojumelages friends

Every country has its own very special traditions and customs. Most go back to the culture and history of the individual countries and towns. They have been passed on from generation to generation and continue to shape people's lives.

Cultural monuments are also part of the identity of a town or region as cultural heritage.

Within this context, we would be delighted if you could present a tradition, a custom or a cultural monument of your town or region on the Eurojumelages homepage using photos and a short text, in connection with your personal experiences, so that the Eurojumelages community can appreciate the members’ individual heritage: awareness of traditions, festivals, historical monuments, etc. certainly contributes to our ideals of cultural exchanges and international understanding.

In my region, the Rhineland, for example, carnival is currently being celebrated, a tradition that goes back to the ancient Germans.

Now let your creativity run free!

Please send us your photos (as a JPEG file) and the accompanying text by clicking on this link

Please also briefly confirm that you own the rights to the images and agree to their publication free of charge on the Eurojumelages website.

Contributions so far: Cologne Carnival, Holy Week in Mendrisio, Europe Day in Bonn, Diamond Hill - more than a hill walk. 

We are looking forward to many more contributions!

Christmas greetings

Dear members and friends of Eurojumelages,

 during the Christmas season we take time for people who are important to us, we are happy with visits, letters, e-mails and phone calls. We feel: we belong together, we are connected to each other.

We depend on unity and understanding in our families, at work and also in our Eurojumelages network.

But unity and understanding do not happen automatically. The Eurojumelages community thrives on people taking responsibility, getting involved and participating. Despite the Corona pandemic ,I was able to meet and get to know many of these people at various events this year.

Even in this difficult time of the Corona pandemic, they have faced the special challenges and kept the association "alive".

In contrast to 2020 – in this manner some events could take place again under observance of appropriate precautionary measures:

The OSCAR in June in Wroclaw, which was held as a hybrid event this year, the boules tournament in August in my region, as well as the language courses in Montpellier in September and in Benidorm in November.

Numerous regional events of the individual sections could also be organised again.

On the other hand, it was painful - both for the organizers and the participants - that the Christmas event in Dresden had to be cancelled at a short notice due to official orders.

At this point I would like to express my special thanks to the organizers who made the events possible under difficult conditions this year. I would also like to thank the members and friends of Eurojumelages who took part in the events. Such meetings shape the life of the association. The joy of reunion among the participants was very great at the individual meetings, which makes me optimistic for the events in 2022.

I wish you and your families a merry Christmas and a healthy start to 2022.

Let us look forward to the new year with confidence!

With European Christmas greetings

Yours sincerely, Peter Backes