In the United Kingdom, the term "twin towns" is most commonly used; the term "sister cities" is generally used for agreements with towns and cities in the Americas. In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are "twin towns", "partnership towns", "partner towns", and "friendship towns". The European Commission uses the term "twinned towns" and refers to the process as "town twinning". Spain uses the term "ciudades hermanadas", which means "sister cities". Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic use "Partnerstadt" (De) / "miasto partnerskie" (Pl) / "partnerské město" (Cz), which translate as "partner town" or "partner city". France uses "ville jumelée" (jumelage, twinned town or city), and Italy has "gemellaggio" (twinning) and "comune gemellato" (twinned municipality). In the Netherlands, the term is "partnerstad" or "stedenband" ("city bond" when providing mutual support). In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση ("adelfopiisi"fraternisation) has been adopted. In Iceland, the terms "vinabæir" (friend towns) and "vinaborgir" (friend cities) are used. In the former Soviet Bloc, "twin towns" and "twin cities" were used, along with "города-побратимы" (Ru) (sworn brother cities).