War against Ukraine

Cities across Europe mobilise for Ukraine... Yesterday, Arnaud Robinet, the French mayor of Reims, a city home to 180,000 inhabitants, greeted the secretary of the city council of Chernihiv located 150 km north of Kyiv.

On the agenda: the sealing of a partnership to improve relations and networking between the two cities in 2023. Representatives from both cities got around the table to identify core areas of action. 

Beyond the symbolic gesture of flying the Ukrainian flag from the town hall, Reims committed to support the Ukrainian people by taking concrete actions, including in the fields of youth, public services and culture. 

Reims officials are also planning to invite teenagers from Chernihiv to take part in summer programmes focusing on culture, sports and art. They also committed to help restore Chernihiv once the war is over. 

Cities across Europe mobilise for Ukraine

Throughout Europe, cities are showing solidarity for Ukraine. To turn this into concreate measures, an online platform, Cities4Cities, was created to help Ukrainian cities. Launched at the initiative of the mayor of the city of Sindelfingen Bernd Vöhringer, also president of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the platform aims to match Ukrainian and other European cities to provide help and support local infrastructure in Ukraine. The platform is supported by the Congress and the CEMR. 

To find more about how local governments support Ukraine, just click here.