At the first meeting of the CoR high level taskforce on Ukraine,the EA group President, Mr Stanisław Szwabski welcomed the initiative which will give greater interaction,  advice and cooperation between the CoR and local and regional authorities in Ukraine.

 

Participants who also welcomed the CoR focus on Ukraine included Andrej Plenković, MEP and co-chair of Ukraine parliamentary association, and Oleksii Honcharenko, MP, Ukraine and secretary of the Committee on regional policy and self-governance.

 

A clear work programme and roadmap of action was agreed by the taskforce.   Mr Szwabski said that the CoR has an obligation to work with our neighbouring local and regional authorities in Ukraine to ensure that they can stimulate growth and jobs in a peaceful and democratic manner. He highlighted the cooperation between his city and Polish local and regional authorities as concrete ways to cooperate.  The EU and Ukraine must also place more emphasis on communication of their activities to ensure that citizens are aware of the reasons for the changes in local and regional level.