Addressing the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, in Brussels on 15 May 2025, Congress President Marc Cools reaffirmed the key role of local and regional authorities in Ukraine’s recovery and EU accession process. “Municipalities and regions are not mere beneficiaries of aid, but agents of change and builders of resilience and democracy. Their full involvement is essential,” he stressed.
President Cools highlighted the Congress declaration of March 2025 calling for a human-centred, decentralised, inclusive and transparent recovery and reconstruction in Ukraine. The Congress continues to support Ukraine in the advancement of multilevel governance, with strong institutions and empowered communities and citizens, he said.
The participants unanimously adopted a joint statement on “Empowering Local and Regional Authorities for the Reconstruction and future EU Accession of Ukraine”. It calls for a decentralised and bottom-up recovery and reconstruction, the involvement of Ukrainian local and regional authorities in donor platforms, and the establishment of a one-stop-shop to facilitate partnerships and knowledge-sharing between and Ukrainian and other European cities and regions.
The meeting served as a follow-up to the recent event in Verona in preparation for the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025, to be held in July in Rome. The meeting concluded with a call for collective action and lasting democratic renewal through local empowerment.
