Members of the European Alliance of Cities and Regions
for the Reconstruction of Ukraine issued the following
statement on emergency support for Ukraine.
Following the first political meeting of the
Alliance on 29 November, members from both European
and Ukrainian cities and regions adopted the
following joint view on the urgent need to stand by
Ukraine, by providing emergency support.
"The European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the
Reconstruction of Ukraine urges national, regional and
local leaders to join forces to provide emergency
support for Ukraine's regions and cities in the face of
Russia's efforts to leave Ukrainians without homes, heating,
light, and water this winter.
"Russia's systematic attempt to destroy Ukraine's
energy and water infrastructure is yet another example
of Russia's blatant and gross violation of
international humanitarian law. Russia's attempt to
subjugate Ukraine by wreaking death and destruction on
its population will not succeed. Nor will its attempt
to destroy the European values for which Ukraine is
fighting.
"The political leadership of the Alliance warmly
welcomes the European Union's use of its
civil-protection mechanism in order to secure supplies
of replacement electricity generators and other
equipment now urgently needed in Ukraine. It also
welcomes the European Union's recent commitment to
provide Ukraine with stable, regular and predictable
financial assistance totalling €18 billion, to help
Ukraine through the winter. Collectively,
these steps provide essential resources and a framework
through which European cities and regions can help
Ukraine's local and regional administrations to provide
the basic services that their citizens need.
"The reconstruction of Ukraine is not a challenge that
begins after the war; it must begin now. Members of the
Alliance – and the hundreds of EU and Ukrainian local
and regional authorities represented by Alliance
partners – urge the international community to use the
upcoming conference in Paris in December on support for
Ukraine to draw attention to immediate actions that the
public- and private-sector partners can take. These
actions should be coordinated, involve all levels of
government, and support the decentralisation process in
Ukraine – a process that has significantly increased
Ukraine's resilience in the face of Russia's war of
conquest and destruction."
Background
The
European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the
Reconstruction of Ukraine
was formed in June 2022 by associations and networks of
local and regional associations in Ukraine and the
European Union, brought together by the
European Committee of the Regions. The Alliance is built on the principles of: support
for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty;
support for Ukraine's European integration; the
empowerment of local self-government; a reconstruction
strategy built on integrated planning at the municipal
and regional levels; the principles of the European
Charter of Local Self-Government; the development and
modernisation of the countryside; improving good
governance; regional business development and
innovation.
The founding partners in the Alliance encourage
individual cities and regions, as well as public- and
private-sector partners, to join the Alliance.
Information about the Alliance can be found on the
website of the European Committee of the
Regions, which serves as the secretariat. Would-be partners
should contact:
SupportUkraine@cor.europa.eu
.
EU local and regional administrations wishing to donate
or secure emergency equipment for Ukrainian regions and
cities should contact
SupportUkraine@cor.europa.eu
for details on how to help.
The work of the Alliance is being closely coordinated
with support provided to Ukraine by the European Union
and with the emerging coordination mechanism being
developed by the international community. In July, in
Lugano, international donors, including the EU,
presented their strategic vision and plans on both
short- and long-term reconstruction. In October, in
Berlin, leaders of G7 further discussed concrete ways of
meeting Ukraine's needs. At both conferences, the
importance of the bottom-up approach to the
reconstruction and the direct involvement of local and
regional levels were explicitly recognised and
highlighted. The next conference, in Paris in December,
is expected to focus on measures to support Ukraine
through the winter.
The political-level meeting of the
European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the
Reconstruction of Ukraine
held on 29 November brought together members of the
Alliance with the European Commission, the government
of Ukraine, and the permanent representations of
Germany and France to the EU, representing the host
countries of the Berlin and Paris conferences on the
recovery, reconstruction and modernisation of Ukraine.
Contact:
Press: Andrew Gardner
Tel. +32 473 843 981
andrew.gardner@cor.europa.eu