The northern town of Klaksvík and Saint Petersburg, Russia, have agreed to sign a sister cities partnership.
“The leaders of Klaksvík have been in talks with their counterparts from St Petersburg for some time, and now the two cities have agreed to enter into a sister city agreement,” writes Klaksvík City Council on its webpage.
“Saint Petersburg is an important city in Russia, which imports a lot of fish and salmon from the Faroe Islands. Klaksvík is major fishery city, and the coalition in Klaksvík City Council plans to develop cooperation with cities which can benefit our industry and fishing industry.
“Klaksvík will especially cooperate with the Pushkinsky District in St. Petersburg, and the plan is to cooperate in the fields of industry, culture and sports,” writes Klaksvik.fo.
It is safe to say that the town of Klaksvík swims against the tide by signing a sister cities partnership with Saint Petersburg.
In November 2012, Italian city Milan suspended its twin city status with St. Petersburg in protest over a law against so-called homosexual propaganda adopted earlier that year by Russia’s former Tsarist capital.
In 2013, another Italian city, Venice broke off cultural relations with the Russian city because of its anti-gay legislation. In January 2013, the Venice city council unanimously approved a motion asking officials to cease cultural exchanges with Saint Petersburg.
In August 2013, Lansing, the capital city of Michigan, severed its ties with Saint Petersburg. The city council in Lansing voiced its concerns over Russian anti-gay policies by adopting a resolution calling for an end to the “sister cities” relationship with St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg is a Russian port city on the Baltic Sea. It is Russia’s second-largest city after Moscow, with 5 million inhabitants in 2012, part of the Saint Petersburg agglomeration with a population of 6.2 million (2015).
