In his communication to the Ministers' Deputies on 17 March 2022, the Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Andreas Kiefer, recalled that the Congress stands with the authorities and the people of Ukraine in their fight for peace and the freedom of their country. He underlined that the Congress has for many years been very active in Ukraine, alongside the associations of cities and local elected representatives, implementing activities to strengthen and consolidate local democracy and that it continues to do so in these difficult times.
The Congress provides among others a platform for European and national Associations of local and regional authorities to coordinate their assistance to local elected representatives and workers active in the field in Ukraine. The Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe expressed his conviction that when the war is over, the Congress will remain a reliable and solid partner for his country.
Emphasizing that the ongoing military agression against a sovereign State further illustrates the importance of defending the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, the Secretary General expressed the determination of the Congress to continue its work and to contribute to the defense of these values within the Council of Europe: "The defense of these values does not make us weak, as some would have us believe, on the contrary, they strengthen our determination to build fairer and more resilient societies, to favor dialogue and co-operation and to prefer peace to war" insisted Andreas Kiefer, who also informed the Committee of Ministers of the other subjects on the agenda of the Congress session to be held from 22 to 24 next March.
On this occasion, the Secretary General also presented to the Deputies of the Ministers the recent activities of the Congress in the field of monitoring of local and regional democracy, observation of local and regional elections, co-operation programs in member states (currently in Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova (the activities in Ukraine being suspended since the outbreak of the war) and in non-member states with the status of partners in democracy (Morocco and Tunisia) as well as institutional co-operation within the Council of Europe (Parliamentary Assembly, European Court of Human Rights, European Commissioner for Human Rights, Venice Commission, North South Centre, etc.) and outside (European Committee of the Regions, Assembly of European Regions, Conference of European Municipalities and Regions, etc.).
In line with its adopted priorities for 2021-2026, the Congress is also implementing thematic activities in the field of the Sustainable Development Goals, the environmental issues, digitisation and artificial intelligence, the fight against fake news, hate speech and discrimination and the promotion of gender equality, the protection of children and citizen participation, among others, which were also highlighted. An activity report covering the period from October 2021 to February 2022 has been published in this regard.
