At the round table “Good Democratic Governance in Ukraine: Achievements, Challenges and Way Forward in the Post-War Period”, Ukraine and the Council of Europe signed the Joint Declaration on Good Democratic Governance in the area of local self-government.

“This will direct the implementation of the next stages of the Decentralisation Reform. As a candidate for membership in the European Union, Ukraine must present strong, responsible and effective local self-government. This is an integral part of our European integration track,” said Oleksandr Korniyenko, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

According to him, this is the second high-level dialogue and a continuation of the extensive cooperation with the Council of Europe.

The First Deputy Chairman expressed his gratitude for the discussions in Strasbourg in November 2022. “The development of the Action Plan to ensure the implementation of the agreements reached during the dialogue — the Draft Roadmap — was initiated at that time,” Mr Korniyenko said.

“In close contact with colleagues from the Council of Europe and the European Union, we can respond to all the challenges facing the local self-government of Ukraine,” he noted.

The discussions on the relevant topic, as was stressed by Oleksandr Korniyenko, will continue and will be of high quality. “Our motto is talking about self-government only with self-government,” he said.

“We see strong teamwork involving the Office of the President, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine,” the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine said while thanking colleagues from the Council of Europe who came to Kyiv. “The next few days will be dedicated to the topic of self-government and the participation of the Council of Europe in interrelated processes, which constitute a very important milestone on the way to our further development.”

Representatives of state authorities, local self-government bodies and their all-Ukrainian associations, NGOs, expert community, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine and the Council of Europe took part in the round table.

The round table is organised by the Council of Europe programme “Strengthening Good Democratic Governance and Resilience in Ukraine” as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026 jointly with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine — the Committee on the Organisation of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning.