On 7 October in Lviv, Bart Somers, Mayor of the Belgian city of Mechelen, received the City Friendship Ambassador Award from Cities4Cities. The award was presented during his lecture at the School of Municipal Governance at UNBROKEN University as a sign of appreciation for his personal contribution to developing municipal cooperation with Ukraine.
The City Friendship Ambassador Award brings together people who believe in the power of horizontal connections, build meaningful partnerships between Ukrainian municipalities and communities around the world, and inspire others.
“Today, it is Ukrainians who are fighting in Europe for the fundamental values on which the European Union is built: human dignity, the rule of law, international law, democracy and freedom. Ukraine is an example for us. I believe that by working together at the city level, we can learn a great deal from one another”
Bart has led Mechelen for more than two decades. His professional experience spans the local, regional and European levels: he has served in the Flemish Parliament and Government and is currently Vice-President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) for 2026–2028.
From his city’s partnership to new partnerships with Ukraine
Bart’s cooperation with Cities4Cities and Lviv began in 2023 at the Cities Forum in Turin. That meeting later grew into the partnership between Mechelen and Lviv.
One of its important outcomes was support for the UNBROKEN Centre for people who have survived captivity and torture. With Bart’s support, the Government of Flanders allocated €1.5 million to establish the centre. Mechelen has also repeatedly organised humanitarian convoys to Ukraine carrying vehicles, medical equipment and other assistance. Lviv remains its main partner, while part of this support is now also reaching other Ukrainian municipalities.
Bart did not stop with the cooperation of his own city. He inspires fellow mayors and municipal leaders to develop new partnerships with Ukrainian cities.
Among other examples, Bart helped connect the Belgian municipality of Merelbeke-Melle with Kalush. Today, the two municipalities have an official partnership focused on long-term, practical cooperation. Merelbeke-Melle, in turn, has taken up the baton and is helping connect other municipalities with Ukrainian communities.
Mechelen and Lviv today demonstrate the approach Bart promotes among other cities: a partnership should not remain limited to mayors and formal agreements.
Police officers and emergency responders, universities, students and other professional communities in the two cities are already working together. During Russian attacks on Lviv, professionals from both cities remained in direct contact, while their Belgian colleagues were interested in learning from Ukraine’s experience of responding in crisis conditions. Delegations from Mechelen have already visited Ukraine several times to learn from its experience of crisis response.
“Bart Somers is a City Friendship Ambassador who helps Ukraine build its future through friendship between cities. For us as a Ukrainian team, this is extremely valuable: the strongest argument in favour of partnerships is when European mayors themselves explain their value to other European cities”
Cities4Cities established the award in 2024 to recognise people who help expand the network of long-term municipal partnerships and inspire others through their own example. The first City Friendship Ambassador was Edward Mayor from France, President of the NGO Stand with Ukraine. The award was later presented to Martin Asmuth, Mayor of Hofstetten in Germany, and David O’Keeffe, a Cities4Cities partner in the United States.
This article was prepared by Cities4Cities in partnership with the ЗМІN Foundation.
