The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine met on 15 December 2023 and gathered more than 1,600 participants in-person and online.

Attending the official opening, the President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, Bernd Vöhringer (Germany, EPP/CCE), congratulated Ukraine on the decision of the Council of the European Union to open accession negotiations. He highlighted the long-standing co-operation between the Council of Europe Congress and Ukraine.

“Decentralisation in Ukraine led to empowered local leaders and to the incredible display of resilience they are showing” underlined President Vöhringer while reiterating the unwavering support of the Congress for the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. In this view, he welcomed the roadmap for an effective and Charter-compliant local self-governance in post-war Ukraine, which was recently adopted.

The project “Strengthening multi-level governance, democracy and human rights at local level in Ukraine” is implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” for 2023-2026. The project aims to strengthen the dialogue, partnership and consultation between different levels of government; enhance collaborative governance and citizen participation in line with the principles of local democracy and open government; and promote and guarantee the right to equality and non-discrimination at local level, for the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine