Dear friends, dear mayors,
I am very happy to be with you today in Lviv. And I am glad to see so many local leaders in the audience.
When my own country, Slovenia, joined the European Union twenty years ago, we quickly realised something: EU accession needs strong, determined leadership, yes. But it cannot be left to the central government alone. It also needs to be built from the bottom up.
Local leaders are architects of European integration. Four-fifths of all EU laws are implemented by local authorities.
You are the ones who feel the impact of policies first-hand. You are the ones citizens turn to first when they need help. You are the foundation of trust between citizens and its leadership. Little in public life is more important.
This reality underpins the importance of empowering you to act.
Because what works in Lviv may not work in Kharkiv, and what works in Dnipro may not work in Zakarpattia. This flexibility brings better results. It creates healthy competition for the best ideas.
And above all, it ensures decisions are more accountable, more transparent, and closer to the people they affect.
This morning, Mayor Sadovyi, told me how Lviv has become a hub for internally displaced people. You are coordinating not only housing, but also education and healthcare. I will see those places myself late today.
Other cities are showing their strength in different ways: Mykolaiv is securing water supply, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi are turning into hubs for energy resilience with biomass and solar.
Each city charts its own path. But collectively, that makes the nation stronger. This is the strength of decentralisation.
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
Decentralisation and public administration reform stand at the heart of Ukraines path to the European Union.
They are enshrined in the first negotiations cluster, what we call the fundamentals of EU accession.
Decentralisation is the single largest reform the EU has supported in Ukraine. This work goes back more than a decade. It has already given Ukrainian local communities new tools and resources to take decisions about their own future. And in many ways, it has already paid off.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, many helped organise the defence of their cities. They were the first to step in when homes were destroyed, when the lights went out, when the heating failed.
Local and regional authorities across Ukraine became heroes of resilience.
Fighting a war requires clear hierarchy. Yet, this does not conceal the incredible value of local and regional authorities. They have shown how decentralized decision-making can strengthen resilience and national security.
Once martial law is over, we should empower local authorities even more in their capacity to act and manage reconstruction in the way that best fits the local context.
It will prove a key to Ukraines integration in the European Union.
Bringing Ukraine into the Union will require hard reforms, successful investments and the build-up of strong democratic institutions. It requires the trust of citizens that the difficult path of European integration will indeed bring a better future.
That work starts at the local level.
Making change possible. Making change tangible. Inspiring citizens to join the change.
I cannot imagine bringing Ukraine in the EU, without the contributions of its cities and local communities.
The EU already supports this empowerment through our Ukraine Facility. We provide funding and technical assistance to strengthen local and regional administrations and increase their capacity to access funding the EU provides for reconstruction.
Because you know best what needs to be done. You know what makes people stay. You know what will bring displaced families back.
There are several EU programs for local and regional communities to restore buildings or infrastructure such as district heating, water supply and sanitation
We are piloting programmes of around EUR 100 million to build municipal rental housing in Ukrainian cities.
At the same time, we are investing EUR 118 million in energy efficiency for residential buildings and another EUR 150 million in the modernisation of district heating.
Together, these initiatives will make a real difference in peoples daily lives.
And there is more.
Funding and technical assistance are available to strengthen local administrations, to build your capacity, to help you act.
I encourage you to seize these opportunities.
Our teams in Kyiv and Brussels are here to support you.
Slava Ukraini!
