Hearing of an organisation with a title like that makes you wonder if you can sign up to Mayors for War. Or Mayors for Blondes.

Nevertheless, this group does exist. Set up in 1991 and with members in 134 countries and regions, readers of the All Seeing Eye doubtless wish to congratulate Vukovar Mayor and all round nut-job Zeljko Sabo for becoming its 3,147th co-conspirator this week.

Sabo, who became mayor four months ago, has just received written confirmation of his membership from its president, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatosci Akiba. Judging by the fact that their site is in Japanese with only an English mirror you’d probably not be far wrong in thinking that coming from Hiroshima gets you a guaranteed shot at the big chair in this particular club. The 7th Annual Conference has just been held in Nagasaki, so there’s a theme emerging.

As a member, Sabo is “obligated to ensure that Vukovar residents enjoy good quality of life and security and to contribute to peace in the world”. Which apparently mostly involves not believing in nuclear weapons so it’d be interesting to see if anyone from Iran has joined.

The Vukovar government noted that there has been a Mass said on 18 November in Japan during the last three years for all Vukovar victims of what they call the Homeland War in the 1990s which makes the whole thing justified – as will the freebie twinning junkets to Hiroshima (although new visitors should avoid asking if they can take a look around the Old Town – early 1950’s architecture doesn’t count).

Mayors for Peace, according to their mission statement, strives to raise international public awareness of the need to abolish nuclear weapons and to contribute to the realization of genuine and lasting world peace by working to eliminate starvation and poverty, assist refugees fleeing local conflicts, support human rights and protect the environment.

TheEye is going to take a look into which towns and cities the 53 Mayors from these hallowed shores who are wasting taxpayers’ money signed up to this nonsense actually hail from. More soon, perhaps.