February 24, 2025

The following is a press release:

Today marks the third anniversary of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine: the beginning of endless sufferings forever changed the lives of millions of Ukrainians and shattered security on the European continent.

Today, we remain fully committed to unwavering solidarity with Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes. There is no freedom in Europe without a free Ukraine, there is no freedom for Ukraine without European solidarity.

Since 24 February 2022, the support to Ukrainian cities and regions is an absolute priority for the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). Ukraine is still standing because its cities and regions are standing. They provide shelter to the people under Russian bombings, they guarantee the provision of water, food and heating and they host the displaced people.

Today, we renew our call to free immediately the Ukrainian mayors and local officials abducted by Russian forces.

We have gathered all the major Ukrainian and EU associations of local and regional authorities in the European Alliance for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, which coordinates the efforts of cities and regions for the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.

We facilitate direct peer-to-peer support for the exchange of best practices and capacity building, notably through the Training and Internship Programme Support for Ukrainian Municipalities (TIPS4UA) project.

We are hosting in our premises the EU representations of Ukrainian cities and regions.

We have established a Working Group, which accompanies the cities and regions of Ukraine on the road to EU membership.

Together with Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, our honorary member since 2022 and 2024 laureate of the Paweƚ Adamowicz Award, and the mayors and locally elected representatives of Ukraine, we dream of the true unification of our continent, and Ukraine’s cities and regions thriving in a peaceful, free, and prosperous European Union.

Kata TÜTTŐ

CoR President

Aleksandra DULKIEWICZ and Antje GROTHEER

on behalf of the CoR’s Working Group on Ukraine

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The European Committee of the Regions

The European Committee of the Regions is the EU's assembly of regional and local representatives from all 27 Member States. Created in 1994 following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, its mission is to involve regional and local authorities in the EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. To sit on the European Committee of the Regions, all of its 329 members and 329 alternates must either hold an electoral mandate or be politically accountable to an elected assembly in their home regions and cities. Click here for more details on your national delegation.