Brandenburg Delegation to Visit Belarus and Russia to Revive Municipal Ties

Dragon Media News Desk

Representatives of five political parties and various civic groups from Germany’s Brandenburg state will visit Belarus from November 6 to 11. A visit to Russia is tentatively planned for the first week of April 2027. The aim is to restore municipal and sister-city ties that were suspended at the initiative of the German government, said Sven Hornauf, a Brandenburg state parliament member from the BSW party and organizer of the visits.

The two trips were initially planned as one, but were separated because of the countries’ size and logistical requirements, Hornauf told TASS. Brandenburg has four partner cities in Belarus and 10 in Russia.

He said the visits were intended to signal a desire to revive contacts and partnerships that had been artificially severed. Representatives of all Brandenburg cities and districts with sister-city ties would be able to resume those contacts at the same time, he said.

“We want people to meet in person again, without obstacles created by big politics, and to cooperate as friends and partners in art, culture, sports, church affairs and other areas,” Hornauf said. The November delegation will include representatives of five political parties, as well as orchestra musicians, theatre professionals, firefighters, clergy, athletes, and municipal and state politicians.

Hornauf said he considers the German government’s severance of contacts, embargo and hostile stance to be mistaken. Attempts to drive a wedge between the two countries and their peoples are artificial and do not serve the interests of citizens, he said.

The visit program is still being coordinated. The German delegation is expected to meet municipal leaders and officials responsible for culture, sports and inter-church dialogue. On November 7, the representatives plan to attend events in Minsk marking Belarus’s national holiday.