Meeting in Victoria on the island of Gozo, Malta, under the Maltese Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, the Congress Bureau discussed, among others, the situation of local democracy in Armenia, with the elaboration of a new law on local self-government; local self-government reform in Cyprus; the impact on local self-government of the current political polarisation in Georgia; and dismissals of mayors in Türkiye, in the light of the recent visit of a Congress delegation to the country. The Bureau also held a discussion of the situation in Ukraine in the light of recent developments, and of the Congress’s ongoing work to support Ukraine’s decentralisation reforms.
The Bureau acted on the proposals to reform the European Local Democracy Week – a Congress 2007 initiative on citizen participation – including renaming it European Local Democracy Action (ELDA) and introducing a new ELDA Prize.
Bureau members heard a video message from Minister for Culture, Lands and Local Government Owen Bonnici and had an exchange of views with other representatives of the Maltese authorities, notably Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government Alison Zerafa Civelli, President of the Gozo Regional Council Samuel Azzopardi and Mayor of the City of Victoria Brian Azzopardi.
