On 24 March 2025, ahead of its 48th plenary session in Strasbourg, the Congress signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ukrainian Association of Amalgamated Territorial Communities (AATC) to increase co-operation, as well as jointly advocate and foster good democratic governance and local government reforms in Ukraine.

“As we entered into the fourth year of the full-scale war of aggression exactly a month ago, it is all the more important to reaffirm our support to Ukraine through initiatives such as this memorandum,” said Congress President Marc Cools at the signing ceremony, adding that “through this joint action, we will bolster innovation in local policies and initiatives, and in turn enhance the resilience of Ukrainian communities”.

For his part, Oleksandr Korinnyi, Chair of the AATC, thanked the Congress for the support and expertise received so far, and underlined that “this memorandum is a symbol of the Association’s commitment to implement and advocate for Council of Europe standards.”

This memorandum of understanding is the third of the kind between the Congress and Ukrainian associations of local and regional authorities. In 2023, the Congress signed a similar agreement with the Association of Ukrainian Cities and, in 2024, formalised another with the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils.

Today’s signature is yet another recognition of the essential role that local and regional authorities play for Ukraine’s defence, recovery and reconstruction.

The signing ceremony was organised as part of the project “Strengthening multilevel governance, democracy and human rights at local level in Ukraine” 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.