MinRehion plans to transform international partnerships of Ukrainian communities into Bridges of Trust, which will link Ukrainian communities with municipalities in the countries where the largest number of Ukrainians currently live.

Poland and Germany could be the first countries to implement this approach.

This information was reported by Vitalii Bezgin, Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

‘We want to transform international partnership of communities into Bridges of Trust – linking Ukrainian communities with those in the countries where Ukrainians live today, and using these partnerships to help people maintain ties with their communities and facilitate their future return,’ said Vitalii Bezgin.

According to the Minister, Poland is the country with the greatest number of international partnerships with Ukrainian communities. Within the framework of this initiative, it is important to foster not only humanitarian and cultural ties, but also to advocate for Ukrainian interests, facilitate administrative cooperation, and create conditions that enable people to return.

MinRehion plans to focus on cooperation between Ukrainian communities and those communities and gminas abroad where the largest number of people from the relevant regions of Ukraine live. In parallel, the Ministry will work on profiles of Ukrainian communities so that people abroad can see not just a formal webpage, but clear information about the possibilities for returning.

‘People abroad should not see a formal website, but a clear picture of where they can return to and what awaits them there,’ the Minister clarified.

Vitalii Bezgin also emphasised that horizontal links between communities can be more resilient to political changes at the national level.

Source: interview with Vitalii Bezgin for Interfax-Ukraine.