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Kosice as City of Culture Features in Municipal Election Campaign
Monday 01 November 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Kosice, November 1 (TASR) - Kosice as the European Capital of Culture in 2013, a designation bestowed on the city two years ago, is featured prominently in the programmes of the candidates for the post of city mayor in the local elections due in November.
"Kosice will have to show the whole of Europe in two years' time that it deserves this designation. Considering that we're midway along the path, very little of what was included in the winning project has been carried out. What I view as the main problem is that large-scale investment projects haven't even reached the competition stage yet, let alone realisation," said former health minister Richard Rasi, who is being supported by the Smer-SD and Most-Hid parties in his bid.
According to current mayor and candidate for re-election Frantisek Knapik, who has received backing from SDKU–DS, the Christian Democrats (KDH), the ethnic-Hungarian SMK and the Civic Conservative Party (OKS), the city has come up with a bold idea.
"We translated the plan into victory in a honest battle against other cities. We've done a great deal of preparation work and we're entering the final stage," he said. "It will be an event that will leave a permanent trace in the city's history and will influence its life," he added.
Independent hopeful Marek Kazimir concurred with Rasi's view that not enough has been done so far. "The activities of the team in charge of preparing the project have been insufficient. They started from the wrong end. Communication has become stuck, and the people of Kosice simply don't feel like it's their project, their joint effort," he said.
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