Ukraine’s regions and cities take further steps towards EU

Ukraine has taken further steps towards integration into the institutional structures of the European Union, with the opening of the first representative office of a Ukrainian city in Brussels and with Ukrainian cities and regions for the first time joining local and regional authorities from the western Balkans and Türkiye to discuss the challenges of the accession process.

Lviv, the seventh most populous city in Ukraine, will manage its outreach to the EU institutions from office space provided by the European Committee of the Regions. Speaking on 4 May at the opening of Lviv’s representation to the EU, Deputy Mayor Serhii Kiral said that the city is willing to serve as a “front office” for other Ukrainian sub-national authorities as well.

Deputy Mayor Kiral was in Brussels to attend the Enlargement Day conference organised annually by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). The CoR champions the importance of involving regions and cities in the enlargement process, noting that local and regional administrations have a role in implementing roughly two-thirds of EU laws.

“This year’s Enlargement Day comes in the wake of historic decisions such as Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina all receiving EU candidate status,” said Anna Magyar, the CoR’s rapporteur on enlargement. “The EU must re-energise its enlargement process to retain geostrategic relevance and credibility in these turbulent times by setting a clear roadmap and timeline, providing more meaningful incentives to spur the necessary reforms.”

The war in Ukraine has resulted in an increase in international cooperation between cities and regions, including through the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine. The Alliance, which was created in June 2022, is bringing together local and regional associations from the European Union and Ukraine, as well as individual cities and regions, with the aim of coordinating joint efforts for the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine and facilitating contacts and cooperation between its core partners and EU institutions.

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