Development of International Cooperation: Serhii Morhunov Took Part in the Leaders' Summit of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions

Recently, on 9-10 December, the German city of Karlsruhe hosted the Leaders' Summit of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, which was dedicated to partnership between cities. Vinnytsia Mayor Serhii Morhunov took part in the event.

The panel discussions focused on establishing connections between people and communities in crisis situations, tools and initiatives for long-term partnerships, and other issues.

‘We talked in particular about twinning as one of the tools to increase resilience and development opportunities. This is especially important for Ukrainian communities. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have felt the support of our European friends from a number of countries, and we have also found reliable partners in Germany and France. We are grateful for the comprehensive support and initiative shown by the international community then and still today,’ said Serhii Morhunov. ’Now we are faced with the task of overcoming the challenges of war with dignity and taking care of the country's recovery in the future. Therefore, we must work together to have the appropriate resources. We will need a lot of them. And it is through horizontal cooperation with international partners and twin cities that we can create a solid foundation for the implementation of these plans.’

Taking this opportunity, the mayor of Vinnytsia called on the mayors of European cities to contribute to the release of their Ukrainian colleagues from russian captivity:

‘I would like to remind you that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the rashists have been deliberately hunting for representatives of local governments. Since the beginning of the war, 55 representatives of municipalities have been held captive by the racists. Now there are 2 mayors in captivity: Kherson and Hola Prystan, as well as one starosta from the Chernihiv region. Last week, after three years of captivity, the rashists returned the body of the mayor of Dniprorudne, Yevhen Matveev. I call on all mayors to join in the release of Ukrainian mayors from russian captivity, and together we can free them,’ said Serhii Morhunov.

During the Summit, he also spoke about the twinning agreement with the German city of Karlsruhe during the full-scale invasion. Serhii Morhunov noted that diplomatic relations had developed quite dynamically, with only nine months passing between the first contacts and the conclusion of the agreement. And this cooperation, according to him, is quite productive and has opened up many opportunities for the exchange of experience, the implementation of various projects and the establishment of close communication between the residents of both communities.

‘I am very grateful for the sincere desire of my colleague, the Mayor of Karlsruhe, Frank Mentrup, to help Vinnytsia and Ukraine. I feel very concerned about what is happening in our country. Karlsruhe and Vinnytsia are planning to cooperate in many areas: mobility, urbanism, implementation of the Green Deal goals, and we have also established cooperation between our technical universities. I am grateful to the entire community of Karlsruhe for hosting the children of our Defenders on holiday for two years in a row. For them, it is also a psychological recovery and an opportunity to be free from the constant pressure of air raids, power cuts and other threats for a while,’ said Serhii Morhunov. ’For our part, we can share our experience in providing safe shelters in educational institutions, creating safe conditions for community residents, as well as how to respond to challenges in resettling IDPs and quickly delivering humanitarian aid to people in need. This is bilateral work for municipalities in Ukraine and Europe, and it is important to share experience and have a desire to communicate as much as possible.’