"This Is a Historic Event for Three European Communities": Vinnytsia and Nancy Twinning Agreement and Trilateral Agreement Karlsruhe-Nancy-Vinnytsia Ratified at Extraordinary Session of City Council

At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Serhii Morhunov called on the audience to observe a minute of silence in memory of all those who died in the russian-Ukrainian war, as well as two fallen Vinnytsia residents who the community is saying goodbye to today. These are 21-year-old Nazarii Hryntsevych, who went to the front at the age of 18, was the youngest defender of Azovstal and was held in captivity, and Oleh Ostapenko, an employee of the Social Policy Department of the City Council.

The extraordinary session continued with the anthems of three countries: Ukraine, France, and Germany.

In his opening remarks, Vinnytsia Mayor Serhii Morhunov said: "Today, Vinnytsia is witnessing a historic event for three European communities. We are ratifying the Twin City Agreement between Vinnytsia and Nancy and the Trilateral Agreement between the sister cities of Karlsruhe, Nancy, and Vinnytsia. It is symbolic that this event is taking place in May, when Ukraine, like the rest of the world, celebrates Europe Day. For about 20 years, we, as a territorial community, have been following the European vector of development. The annual celebration of Europe Day since 2007 has been a vivid testament to this. And this holiday was as big for Vinnytsia residents as the City Day, which was attended by hundreds of thousands of people: residents and guests of the city. Today, Ukraine and Europe are united not only by geography and the colors of our flags, but also by common values, the desire for democracy, freedom and the rule of law."

Serhii Morhunov also said that Ukrainians have been defending their independence for 11 years, paying an extremely high price for it. "However, our people remain steadfast. Our heroes are a shield of security for the whole of Europe. And we stand firm, because Europe is our common home, which we defend together," said the mayor of Vinnytsia.

He also added how important and valuable the assistance of Europe, in particular the communities of Karlsruhe and Nancy, was and remains for Ukraine in wartime. The Power of Partnership award, which Vinnytsia and Karlsruhe received during the Mayors' Summit in Chisinau, is a confirmation of the cooperation. The mayor also mentioned the first results of Vinnytsia's cooperation with the cities of Nancy and Karlsruhe in the areas of healthcare, prosthetics and rehabilitation, urbanism, ecology, and education.

The mayor of the French city of Nancy, Mathieu Klein, also delivered a welcoming speech.

"It is a great pleasure and honor to visit Vinnytsia again. I am grateful to the Mayor of Karlsruhe, who made our twinning agreement with Vinnytsia possible, as he initiated it," said Mathieu Klein. "France and Germany are two countries that are the founders of the European Union. That is why these two countries are now supporting Ukraine and honoring the fact that it is also defending our countries. Nancy City Council voted to ratify the partnership agreement between our cities last December. And we can be proud of how we have been able to implement many joint projects in such a short period of time: youth internships, water purification, and university cooperation. Cooperation in the treatment of veterans, prosthetics and orthotics is especially important to us. I would like to express Europe's support for Ukraine."

The words of the Mayor of Nancy were confirmed by his colleague, the head of the city of Karlsruhe, Frank Mentrup.

"A year after my previous visit, I am glad to be in Vinnytsia again. Last year we ratified the partnership and I want to thank you on behalf of all our citizens for this opportunity. And this time we can conclude a trilateral partnership. Next year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the successful partnership between Karlsruhe and Nancy. I believe that the policy of cooperation should be implemented not only at the level of nations, but also at the level of communities. There is no strong state and no strong democracy without strong cities and residents. We want to remain in solidarity and support each other in the future," said Frank Mentrup.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of France to Ukraine Gaël Veyssière and Deputy Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine Tim Prange also emphasized the importance of European values and partnership between cities and countries. They also reaffirmed their support for Ukraine in the difficult time of fighting the aggressor.

Afterwards, the mayors of Vinnytsia and Nancy solemnly ratified the twinning agreement. Subsequently, the mayor of Karlsruhe joined them to sign the Karlsruhe-Nancy-Vinnytsia Trilateral Agreement.

"The twinning agreement is a sign of true solidarity and mutual support. Our cities are committed to developing concrete sustainable projects on the following topics: participatory democracy, environmental transformation, health, culture, education, sports, universities, innovation, economy, and international solidarity," the text of the Twinning Agreement with Nancy reads. The Trilateral Agreement adds to these areas of cooperation urbanism, participatory approaches, social development, economic sustainability of communities, and entrepreneurship.

Finally, the mayors of the twin cities, together with Oksana Shabanova, Director of Network Development of the Vinnytsia Region of Ukrposhta, redeemed a symbolic stamp from the "Twin Cities" series dedicated to Vinnytsia's friendly cities. The stamp depicts a heart held by palms colored in the flags of France and Ukraine, as well as architectural symbols of Vinnytsia and Nancy.

The stamp that was presented is called "No one will touch me unpunished!". This phrase is the motto of the city of Nancy. The slogan also vividly characterizes the Ukrainian people, their heroic spirit, determination and steadfastness in their desire to protect their native land from the Nazi invasion.