This appeal was made by Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko and Special Envoy to the Netherlands, First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova. The appeal was made during a visit to the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) on June 18, 2022.
Members of the Ukrainian delegation stated that cooperation between Ukraine and the Netherlands at the level of municipalities gives more weight to political relations between the two countries.
In response, the chairman of the VNG, Jan van Zanen, declared full support for Ukraine and that the VNG is ready to actively promote cooperation between Ukrainian and Dutch municipalities. Van Zahnen said that direct cooperation between municipalities is not always the most effective way of interaction, and sometimes it is difficult to implement. VNG is in constant contact with the Association of Ukrainian Cities (AUG) and interacts with Ukrainian experts on the issue of helping the municipalities of the Netherlands to rebuild Ukraine.
In addition to Jan van Zanen, the meeting with the Ukrainian delegation was attended by VNG CEO Leonard Geluk, Ukrainian Ambassador to the Netherlands Maxim Kononenko, VNG International Deputy Director Arthur Wiggers and VNG International Project Manager Thymen Ballering.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands supported the desire of the municipalities of their country to participate in the restoration of Ukraine. The Dutch Foreign Ministry also noted the need to involve other stakeholders in this process, primarily representatives of the business community. For a more active participation of the VNG in this process, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands allowed the temporary use of the funds of the program "Sustainable Development of Local Government" (SDLG), funded by this Ministry. The position of the VNG on participation in the restoration of Ukraine is set out in this document in Dutch. Anyone wishing to participate in this program can inform about it by e-mail vng-international@vng.nl.
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Publication Date: 07.07.2022
