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29.02.2024
Swedish city of Karlskoga became the first twin city of Shepetivka community in Europe
On February 27, Shepetivka Mayor Vitaliy Buzyl and Karlskoga Municipal Council Chairwoman Anna Regan solemnly signed the agreement during a meeting of the Karlskoga City Council. The meeting of the communities and discussion of cooperation with the Swedish city of Karlskoga took place within the framework of the Cities4Cities | United4Ukraine initiative with the support of the Swedish Association of Local and Regional Authorities (SALAR International) and lasted from June 2023.
“Sweden and Ukraine have long-standing historical ties and since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Sweden has provided tremendous support to Ukraine, including military support,” said Anna Regan, chairman of the Karlskoga Municipal Council, adding
“Karlskoga is home to Sweden’s major defense industry and our citizens passionately support Ukraine in its fight for freedom and democracy. This is also a struggle for freedom and democracy in Europe. And now we want to deepen this cooperation between our countries by signing a municipal partnership agreement with Shepetivka.”
In particular, the cities agreed to cooperate in the areas of local economic development, security, good governance, energy efficiency, and development of opportunities for children and youth. The cities also plan to develop a joint project to develop a waste management strategy.
“I really hope that this will be an effective agreement that will benefit both communities. We are ready to adopt the experience of our partners, learn how certain processes work in the EU, and are ready to share our achievements, because we have them too,” said Vitaliy Buzyl, Mayor of Shepetivka.
Karlskoga became Shepetivka’s first sister city in the EU.
“Signing a political agreement is the first step. The next step is to engage business, civil society, and schools in cooperation. Our association will do its best to promote and deepen such cooperation between Swedish and Ukrainian municipalities,” said Magnus Lillestrom, Senior Advisor at the Swedish Association of Local and Regional Authorities (SALAR International).
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Cities4Cities | United4Ukraine are partnership initiatives that joined forces in September 2022 and officially confirmed it on February 27, 2023 at the Municipal Partnership Forum in Sindelfingen by signing a Memorandum of Understanding. The United4Ukraine initiative was launched by SALAR International and the city of Lviv (Ukraine) with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).