Ukraine, where a just and lasting peace remains the Council of Europe’s absolute priority, has been at centre stage of discussions at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe again this week.
Kherson resilience amidst the war
The 51st session of the Congress opened on Monday evening with a haunting performance by the Ukrainian National Bandurist Chorus. The town of Kherson was at the heart of today’s Congress events, which included the inauguration of an exhibition entitled “The Price of Life”, featuring images of the region.
The launch of the book Unbreakable Kherson: from war experience to European resilience provided an opportunity to hear directly from Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, about how the region’s time in the war is shaping the capacity of leaders and communities to endure under extraordinary pressure.
Another side event, “The impact of Russia’ full-scale war on women’s political participation in Ukraine”, explored the changing role of women’s democratic participation during the war and urged that women’s political representation be protected and promoted during the post-war reconstruction.
Support for rebuilding Ukraine
During formal debate, the Congress reiterated its support for the work on the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine, as well as work on decentralisation reforms. It emphasised the importance of funding, targeted capacity-building, together with a sustainable development approach. Once more, the Congress condemned the Russian Federation’s war of aggression in Ukraine, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and deploring the growing number of civilian casualties and the ongoing targeting of cities, communities and critical infrastructure.
With the hope that a meaningful peace process to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine might be possible, Congress members reaffirmed their solidarity with the Ukrainian people and authorities and their commitment to a common, democratic future based on respect for international law and a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.
Congress backs Carpathian Integration Initiative
The Congress welcomed the September launch of the Carpathian Integration Initiative, a new platform for strengthening regional and transfrontier cooperation, democratic resilience and sustainable development.
“The Carpathian Integration Initiative was launched to bring eight countries together so that our regions and communities can develop coordinated solutions instead of eight different responses to the same problem,” said Vitalii Bezghin, Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine. During this Congress session, the eight countries — Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Poland, Romania, the Republic of Serbia, the Slovak Republic and Ukraine — discussed ways to expand it.
The Centre of expertise for multilevel governance at the Congress expressed its readiness to facilitate exchanges at a more technical and operational level and to provide practical support, consultancy and peer insight for the initiative.
The Congress decided to support a broad thematic meeting early next year, bringing together local and regional Carpathian authorities and governmental institutions to agree a specific cooperation plan to advance cohesion, prosperity and security across state borders.
