The German city of Braunschweig and the Ukrainian city of Bila Tserkva signed an agreement on solidarity partnership.

This is informed on the official website of Braunschweig municipality.

“At the suggestion of Mayor Thorsten Kornblum, in November the city council approved a solidarity partnership with the central Ukrainian city of Bila Tserkva. On Wednesday, December 14, Deputy Mayor Kateryna Voznenko visited Braunschweig as part of a small delegation. Thorsten Kornblum signed the agreement on solidary partnership,” the message reads.

The mayor of Braunschweig noted that together with Bila Tserkva delegation, they discussed future cooperation and the need for support in the current crisis situation.

Kateryna Voznenko noted that in difficult times for Ukraine, the support of German friends is of great importance for the residents of Bila Tserkva.

“It is especially valuable for us, because the initiative of the agreement came from German friends and it is a direct sign not only of support, but also of faith that Bila Tserkva has a future as a European city”, she noted.

The city of Braunschweig is currently preparing aid delivery with the financial support of the Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW), which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Development.

In order to protect people on the ground from the bad weather and to ensure the critical infrastructure of Bila Tserkva, it is planned to deliver 3,000 bed sets, 15,000 rescue blankets, 1,500 sleeping bags, 5 ventilators and 55 urgently needed generators to Ukraine in the next few weeks.

In March, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine initiated the International Marathon of Local Governments aimed at drawing the attention of municipalities around the world to the tragedy of Ukrainian municipalities and boosting the process of establishing sisterly relations.

On 16 December, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine presented municipal tools for establishing partnerships with foreign municipalities, “Guidelines on International Municipal Partnership” created jointly by the Ministry, the Council of Europe Programme “Decentralisation and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine” and the electronic platform “Partnership for Restoration and Development” developed in cooperation with the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralisation for Improved Democratic Education” (DECIDE) and U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

Municipalities can fill out an application for desired cooperation with a specific foreign municipality on the electronic platform by clicking Cooperate.