“The International Summit of Cities and Regions became an important international event that brought together representatives of more than 50 different countries and communities. The event proved the importance of the Congress as a platform for effective interaction between local authorities and international partners.”

This was stated by Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in his blog on focus.ua.

He summed up the results of the Summit, noting that the event could serve as a model for the successful scaling up of the activities of the Congress of Local Authorities and Regions under the President of Ukraine, facilitating interactions of numerous international delegations, including heads of regions, mayors of cities, heads of city associations of their countries, representatives of the European Union, Council of Europe and other international organisations.

“As part of the Summit, foreign delegations visited the de-occupied territories of Ukraine and saw, first-hand, the consequences of Russian aggression, occupation and hostilities — everything from which Ukraine protects Europe and the democratic world. We showed the real face of the war. And this is extremely important because Ukraine is fighting not for territories, but for democratic values that are shared with Western countries,” wrote Oleksii Kuleba.

According to him, the International Summit of Cities and Regions allowed to bring the dialogue on cooperation with international partners to a new level.

“We discussed the processes of development of the decentralisation reform in the conditions of war: importantly, it has not stopped but — on the contrary — has continued. Decentralisation allowed municipalities at the level of villages, towns, cities, districts and regions to quickly make strategically important decisions, respond to the situation on the ground and strengthen the protection of the civilian population (…) The Summit of Cities and Regions became a platform for results as well as discussions. We laid the foundation for effective interaction between municipalities at the international level. Cooperation in the city-city format is fast and efficient. If we recall the attacks by the Russian Federation on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, aimed at its complete destruction, the municipalities of other countries were among the first to promptly respond and provide relief to our municipalities,” said the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

He added that 11 cooperation agreements between Ukrainian and European cities and regions had been signed during the event. Furthermore, representatives of more than 30 countries of the world, the Council of Europe and the European Committee of the Regions signed a Declaration condemning the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine at the Summit. The partners affirmed their commitment to supporting Ukraine in the struggle for its independence as long as it will be necessary and expressed their full support for municipalities and regions of Ukraine in the process of their recovery and on the path of economic, social and cultural development.

“Crucially, this is an open and dynamic document. Other countries of the civilized world continue to express their support for the Declaration. At the initiative of the Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak and representatives of foreign countries, we are making additions to this document in order to jointly reach agreements as well as sectoral and international partnerships,” wrote Oleksii Kuleba.

According to him, the highlight of the Summit was the signing of the Agreement on Ukraine’s joining the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the world’s most extensive system of providing an international coordinated prompt response in emergencies.

“For Ukraine, which repels the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, involvement in this mechanism is extremely important: after all, it is not only about raising the standards of protection of the Ukrainian population, but also sharing the unique experience of humanitarian aid and best practices in the field of civil protection during wartime that our State has learned during a full-scale war,” said the Deputy Head of the Office of the President.

He also singled out the presentation to the partners of the Regional Offices of International Cooperation.

“It is essentially a platform for coordination, finding new formats of cooperation, direct cooperation at the municipal level. Both local self-government bodies and regional military administrations are directly involved in these Offices. Any states, cities, regions and international organisations that are willing to participate in the recovery and development of Ukrainian municipalities as well as ready to share experience and methodological support are welcome to join. We are opening offices primarily in the de-occupied regions of Ukraine. I firmly believe that they will become a space for joint efforts, which will allow more effective joint efforts to overcome the challenges of the war,” wrote Oleksii Kuleba.