A study visit Strasbourg (France) and to Kappelrodeck (Germany) was organised by the Congress for twenty young local leaders from Ukraine, from 7 to 10 November 2016, as a follow-up to a series of regional seminars on local and regional democracy. These activities are implemented within the project “Promoting local democracy in Ukraine”, as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2015-2017. During the meeting with Stefan Hattenbach, Mayor of Kappelrodeck, Jochen Paleit, Mayor of Kappel-Grafenhausen, and Matthias Gutbrod, Mayor of Kippenheim, open discussions were held on the role of Ukrainian leaders, the responsibilities of local authorities, citizen engagement, relations with local media and the civil society, as well as on ethics and transparency in local politics. In parallel, they participated in the 2016 World Forum for Democracy and exchanged views with the Ambassador Dmytro Kuleba, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, and with representatives of the Commissioner for Human Rights and of the European Court of Human Rights. 

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