Get in touch, listen to Ukrainian regions and cities, and shape the
EU’s policies.
Up to ten million Ukrainians have been displaced by the war, the United Nations said on 23
March, of which 3.5 million have fled the country. More than half the
country’s children have now been forced to find new homes – 2.5 million
within Ukraine and another 1.8 million outside Ukraine. The strain on the
social services provided by local and regional authorities in Ukraine, in
neighbouring countries and – increasingly – across the EU is colossal.
How is the European Committee of the Regions helping – and how can you
contribute?
Get in touch:
We encourage you to visit our
Solidarity with Ukraine
page, where you can find details of help requested by Ukrainian cities and
regions. For further information and suggestions, please write to
SupportUkraine@cor.europa.eu
. The CoR is also working to lessen the humanitarian burden on regions on
Ukraine’s border, helping to house and support refugees by facilitating
city-to-city and region-to-region cooperation. If your city or region has
spare capacity and material, please contact
SupportUkraine@cor.europa.eu. You can voice your support for the people and country of Ukraine by
sending messages to the
Solidarity with Ukraine
page – and by posting on social media, with the hashtag
#StandwithUkraine
and the @EU_CoR tag.
Listen to Ukrainian regions and cities: To hear the latest from mayors on the reality of the war and the vast
challenges they face, we encourage you to follow an extraordinary meeting
of our Ukraine Working Group on 30 March at which – war conditions
permitting – the mayors of Lviv and Kyiv and the president of Ukrainian
Association of Regional and District Councils will speak. The Working Group
will also address the refugee situation on Ukraine’s borders, with local
leaders from Poland, Slovakia and Moldova and with European Commissioner
Ylva Johansson. Agenda here; the meeting can be followed via this link. Further information is available here.
Follow and contribute to the political response: The war in Ukraine is affecting swathes of EU policy and this is being
reflected in the work of CoR’s policy commissions, including discussions in
CIVEX
on 29 March,
SEDEC
on 1 April, and
COTER
on 7 April. The war will also influence the work of the CoR relating to –
for example – the Conference on the Future of Europe, Europe Day on 9 May
as well, of course, as the #EURegionsWeek and the EU Regional and Local
Barometer later in the year. The war will affect our communities in
multiple ways and the European Committee of the Regions is seeking to
ensure that the voice of cities and regions is heard. Solidarity with
Ukraine requires a resilient EU.