Taking the decentralisation reform forward and strengthening democracy amidst a full-scale invasion, the processes of Ukraine’s European integration and the participation of municipalities in the development of the state were discussed at the meeting of Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, with the Georg Milbradt, Special Envoy of the Government of Germany to Ukraine on Decentralisation, Good Governance and Public Service.

This is reported by the official website of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine.

Oleksii Kuleba thanked George Milbradt for his many years of personal contribution to the development of the decentralisation reform and consistent support of Ukraine during the war.

“Ukraine is fighting for democratic values that are shared with Western countries. Despite the full-scale aggression, the processes of decentralisation and European integration in Ukraine have not stopped but rather continue and move forward. Earlier, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the important Law “On Service in Local Self-Government Bodies”. This Law is a pre-requisite for building a legal democratic state as well as an important component of institutional adaptation to the EU and a step towards the fulfilment of Ukraine’s obligations under the Association Agreement,” said Oleksii Kuleba.

According to him, the local self-government bodies and the central government closely cooperate for the sake of the victory and quality life of Ukrainians in the conditions of war.

“We are developing platforms for our ongoing cooperation and coordination. Among them is the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine. The International Summit of Cities and Regions, which was recently held in Kyiv and gathered more than 400 representatives of municipalities, regions and associations from all over the world, is an example of the successful scaling of the Congress’ activities,” said Oleksii Kuleba.

In turn, as was emphasised by the Special Envoy of the Government of Germany in Ukraine, Georg Milbradt, strong and united municipalities will be the key to the successful recovery and development of Ukraine.

“The strategic reform of strengthening local self-government is an important investment in the overall capacity and resilience of Ukraine. Strong local self-government at the local level will be a key factor in successful recovery. Confident citizens mean strong municipalities mean a safe country!” said Georg Milbradt.