On May 9, Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, took part in the Second International Summit of Cities and Regions. The event was held in Kyiv with the participation of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, MPs, government officials, and representatives of Ukrainian and foreign self-government bodies.

The Summit is aimed at strengthening and establishing new partnerships, cooperation, and exchange of experience, in particular for the speedy recovery of Ukraine and the European integration of the regions.

In her address, Olha Stefanishyna emphasized that as part of the EU's cohesion policy, Ukraine was gaining more and more access to the EU's financial instruments and development programs.

"European integration is a complicated and consistent process, which is not immediately felt by every community and region, but the sustained political support of the EU and its countries on Ukraine's path to membership allows us to significantly expand opportunities for the regions," said Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna. "In the first quarter of 2024 alone, 30 territorial communities of Ukraine signed 33 international partnership agreements, and we must deepen cooperation, initiate joint projects to improve living standards in the regions and integrate more effectively into the EU.

The Deputy Prime Minister drew attention to the EU's Interreg programs, the Accession Agreements to which had been ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine today. These are the Black Sea Basin Interreg, Romania-Ukraine Interreg, Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine Interreg, Poland-Ukraine Interreg, and the Danube Regional Program. She called on the regions to actively engage, implement the necessary solutions and ideas for the reconstruction and development of specific regions, cities, towns and communities.

Olha Stefanishyna emphasized that the effective use of these instruments would further expand Ukraine's access to EU structural funds.

The official also called on Ukrainian cities to join the international organization Eurocities, whose representatives were also present at the Summit. This organization brings together about 200 large European cities and city governments. Eurocities serves as a platform for the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experience, and the development of innovative solutions through various working groups, projects and events.

Background Information

The event brought together more than 250 representatives of Ukrainian and foreign local communities. Delegations from the United States, Austria, Germany, Italy, Belgium, France, Denmark, Poland, Canada, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, as well as representatives of the Council of Europe and the European Committee of the Regions are taking part in the Summit.