War delays twinning ceremony

War delays twinning ceremony

A delegation from Caldicot on a recent visit to the French town

Plans to twin a French and Welsh town have been delayed because of the war in Iraq.

People living in Caldicot in Monmouthshire had been planning the twinning with Morières lès Avignon in the south east of France since May 2002.

But organisers in France decided to postpone the twinning ceremony because of the Iraqi conflict where coalition forces were being killed.

The decision by the French committee came a week before the celebrations were planned in Caldicot.

The president of the Morières Twinning Association, Jean Barret, said it would be inappropriate to travel to Wales while British soldiers were being killed in the war.

We did not feel like going to celebrate the twinning in joy while some of your boys are being killed in Iraq

Jean Barret, Morières Twinning Association

"We were ready to go to the official twinning ceremony but since the international situation became worse people did not feel like going there," he said.

"Not because of your people, no, because Caldicot is a long-running love story between them and us.

"But because some people feel there would be something wrong with the flight and so on.

"And, then we did not feel like going to celebrate the twinning in joy while some of your boys are being killed in Iraq," he added.

But the decision, which came in a fax sent to Caldicot Town Council, has disappointed people living in the Monmouthshire town.

The French delegation said it would be 'inappropriate' to travel to Wales during the conflict

Elaine Davies, the mayor of Caldicot, said: "We were informed that this might be happening and when we received the fax to say it was being postponed, yes, we were disappointed.

"Many years ago Caldicot School took part in school exchanges with the town in Avignon and many people in Caldicot have retained links through school exchanges and this is how the twinning partnership started.

"The message we received was that they felt they weren't in a position to come here to celebrate when many of our armed forces were taking part in this war.

"They felt it was inappropriate to celebrate at a time like this.

"The reason Caldicot Town Council decided to go ahead with the twinning when we heard there were some concerns in Morières was because we had taken advice from the local government international bureau which stressed that twinning is a completely neutral activity and is used to promote friendship," she said.

She said she hoped the twinning ceremony would take place later this year.