Congress President Gunn Marit Helgesen has welcomed the political declaration  adopted today by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers – “We in the Congress are especially pleased to see that the role of local governments and their contribution to the priorities of the Council of Europe are well highlighted and feature in a great number of decisions taken here at Chisianu,” underlined the Congress President addressing the Ministerial Session of the Committee of Ministers in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, on 15 May 2026.

“We are especially grateful the Moldovan Presidency of the Committee of Ministers for having announced from the outset that local democracy would be one of their priorities. This has enabled the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the Council of Europe to progress this important agenda of the organisation, she said, pointing to the Congress action in support of Ukraine, its contribution to the New Democratic Pact for Europe and the work to ensure implementation of The European Court of Human Rights’ decisions at local and regional level.