The event was attended by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, and the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, who arrived in Ukraine on Europe Day on a working visit.
First of all, the Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk expressed his gratitude to all those present, in particular to international partners, for participating in the first such Summit and today's second. “Such heritage and continuity of traditions is very important for Ukraine. It is thanks to your valiant work throughout the entire period, thanks to your support as representatives of local self-government, that we are able to talk about a large number of achievements that make Ukraine stronger, both at the highest level and at the level of cooperation between cities, villages, and towns,” he emphasized, adding that during the third year of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Summit has expanded significantly thanks to partners from many countries.
“The tremendous support that our country is experiencing is the result not only of the interaction of heads of state, government officials, parliaments, but also of numerous twinning partnerships with specific communities, cities, regions of Ukraine and countries around the civilized world,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk.
At the same time, he noted that on behalf of the Ukrainian Parliament, he assures that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has always stood on the principles of local self-government and decentralization.
In addition, during his speech, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expressed gratitude to the European Parliament and personally to the President Roberta Metsola for the continued support of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war. He noted that as part of her working visit, Robert Metsola had already visited one of the energy facilities, where she saw with her own eyes the destruction caused by the russian federation.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk said that together with the President of the European Parliament he visited a coffee shop that was damaged during the shelling of Kyiv.
“This is a lever of our common support and common vision. These are European values. European values are not words in big declarations and documents. They are when you talk about Ukraine — your heartbeat rises, when you see what is happening in Ukraine — a tear comes to your eye? when you see the victims of aggression — your fists clench and your desire to do everything possible to win this war increases. And this is our joint work,” the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine emphasized in conclusion.
