Yesterday, on 2 February 2023, the European Parliament adopted the Resolution on the preparation of the EU-Ukraine Summit, which will take place today in Kyiv. The Resolution refers to Ukrainian decentralisation as the most successful reform since Ukraine gained its independence.

This was stated by Vitaliy Bezgin, Ukrainian MP, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Administrative-Territorial Organisation and Local Self-Government.

According to him, European partners emphasise that decentralisation and strong local self-government have become the cornerstone of Ukrainian democracy and are one of the important factors of Ukraine’s resilience during the war.

The MP notes that the European Parliament recommends that Ukrainian local self-government officials participate in the development of recovery measures, advises creating a clear and transparent mechanism for the involvement of Ukrainian civil society in key decision-making processes and calls for further support of civil society.

Furthermore, according to Vitaliy Bezgin, the European Parliament urges the Government of Ukraine to keep strengthening local self-government, a reform that has received wide recognition at the national and international levels, and to integrate the success of the Decentralisation Reform into the general architecture of the recovery and reconstruction processes in Ukraine.

“We would like to thank our European partners for their constant support of Decentralisation Reform and to affirm that Ukraine has been unwavering on the path to progress in it for 8 years, with the main package of legislative changes under the reform adopted by the MPs of the 8th and 9th convocations,” wrote Vitaliy Bezgin.