Dr. Zsuzsanna Zsibók (p), Dr. Petra Kinga Kézai

Hungary occupies a distinctive geopolitical position in Europe, sharing borders with seven countries and functioning as a contact zone between different political, economic, and cultural regimes. Consequently, its border regions have been the subject of sustained academic interest since the 1970s, particularly in the context of post-socialist transformation and European integration. Among these regions, the Austrian–Hungarian border area stands out as one of the most dynamic and institutionally developed cross-border spaces in Central Europe.
This study examines the evolution of cross-border cooperation in the Austrian–Hungarian border region, with special emphasis on sister city relationships as a form of municipal diplomacy. While large-scale institutional frameworks such as Euroregions and EU-funded programs have received considerable attention, less focus has been placed on the role of local governments in fostering cross-border integration through formalized partnerships. Sister city agreements represent a decentralized and socially embedded mechanism of cooperation, often involving cultural exchange, educational collaboration, and civil society engagement.
The empirical analysis concentrates on municipalities in Győr-Moson-Sopron and Vas counties, Hungary’s two western counties directly bordering Austria. Using the comprehensive database of the National Association of Local Authorities of Municipalities (TÖOSZ), the study maps and evaluates the Austrian-related sister city partnerships of settlements in this border zone. The research investigates the geographical distribution of partnerships across Austrian federal provinces, the thematic content of cooperation, and the overall structure of the municipal network.
By providing a systematic overview of cross-border sistering practices in Hungary’s western borderlands, the paper contributes to a better understanding of how local-level institutional relations support territorial integration. The findings highlight the importance of geographic proximity, historical embeddedness, and cultural exchange in shaping durable cross-border ties, thereby offering new insights into the micro-level foundations of regional cooperation in Central Europe.

Ms Nóra Baranyai (p), Petra Kinga Kézai

Paradiplomacy, understood as the international activities of sub-national governmental actors, has gained increasing scholarly attention in recent decades; however, the role of municipal twinning relations as instruments of paradiplomacy in Central and Eastern Europe remains relatively underexplored. This study examines the Bulgarian–Hungarian twinning network, focusing particularly on partnerships shaped by shared historical and horticultural traditions. The research aims to explore how municipal twinning relations function as mechanisms of sub-national diplomacy, how historical migration and diaspora networks influence their development, and how these partnerships contribute to sustainable local cooperation and identity preservation.
The empirical research is based on two primary data sources. First, a comprehensive database compiled by the Hungarian National Association of Local Authorities (TÖOSZ) in 2018 was analysed to identify existing twinning relations involving Hungarian municipalities. The results were subsequently validated through cross-referencing with the database of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NSORB). Second, qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews conducted with representatives of municipalities, minority self-governments, and relevant stakeholders engaged in twinning activities.
The analysis identifies structural characteristics of the Bulgarian–Hungarian twinning network and presents four case studies demonstrating best practices in municipal paradiplomacy: Halásztelek–Polikraishte, Szentes–Sevlievo, Budapest XIV district (Zugló)–Veliko Tarnovo, and Szigetszentmiklós–Gorna Oryahovitsa. These partnerships share a common historical foundation in Bulgarian horticultural migration to Hungary during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The findings indicate that twinning relations grounded in diaspora heritage and historical economic interactions tend to exhibit greater sustainability, institutional depth, and community involvement than partnerships formed solely for administrative or symbolic purposes.
The study concludes that Bulgarian–Hungarian twinning relations represent a distinctive model of heritage-based paradiplomacy in which local governments transform historical migration and cultural memory into contemporary frameworks of international cooperation. These partnerships contribute to community building, intercultural dialogue, and the strengthening of transnational municipal networks within Europe.

Mr Emanuele Sala (p), Prof Charles-Edouard Houllier-Guibert, Prof Fabienne Leloup

Cities are consolidating forms of external action that intertwine practices of city diplomacy with instruments of place marketing. This city marketing-city diplomacy nexus remains overlooked. To contribute to better comprehension and systematization, this article presents a PRISMA review of 31 studies, coding definitions, categorizing drivers, levels of integration between city diplomacy and city marketing, and outcomes. A narrative analysis of the correlations between these elements in the database of articles indicates a variable geometry, reflecting analytical cleavages between economic and normative logics, between degrees of embeddedness of the marketing–diplomacy nexus, and across outcome profiles. The paper, aiming to clarify the state of the art regarding the relationship between city diplomacy and city marketing, shows concepts whose theoretical boundaries remain blurred. A structural overlap rather than a convergence emerges, in light of theoretical plasticity of the two fields. The theorization of the relationship is flexible enough to accommodate diverse goals, narratives, and stakeholders. No single strategic model emerges; internationalization efforts tend to blend cooperative (partnership building, networks) and competitive (attracting investment, talent, tourists) approaches and styles. While city diplomacy and city marketing often partially overlap, they rarely align perfectly: each actor frames and prioritizes international action differently. The review offers a shared lexicon and a comparative map to reassess the possible legitimacy, styles, and effectiveness of cities as international actors, while identifying priority avenues for future research.