The Mayor of Bolesławiec Piotr Roman – at the invitation of the Foundation for Eastern Policy Forum and the Lower Silesian Regional Development Foundation – participated in the project “Lower Silesia for a Common Europe. International regional cooperation as the foundation of development and security.” In accordance with its objectives, a group of Polish researchers, representatives of non-governmental organisations and local authorities took part in meetings with their Ukrainian counterparts in Kyiv.
Mayor Piotr Roman actively participated in the Polish-Ukrainian “Round Table”, during which the national and regional dimensions of Polish-Ukrainian cooperation, as well as new trends and development opportunities, were discussed. The conference at the Ukrainian National News Agency “Ukrinform” concerned the presentation of Lower Silesia’s experience in creating and implementing international regional cooperation. “Learning from one another: The civic and local-government factor in the foreign policy of Poland and Ukraine” was the main topic of the debate, which aimed to familiarise representatives of the Ukrainian regional and central media with knowledge about the civic and local-government dimensions of shaping foreign policy.
Piotr Roman – using Bolesławiec as an example – presented experience related to developing international cooperation at the local-government level. Meanwhile, the international cooperation at the regional level presented by the Mayor of Bolesławiec showed those gathered the perspective of regions and states in the context of the activities of the Nysa Euroregion. “A visit to Kyiv makes it possible to gain a broader understanding of the dynamics of the social and economic processes of our eastern neighbour. It also shows that developing international cooperation at the local-government level in many fields, from culture to the economy, is in the interests not only of our states, but also of local governments,” Piotr Roman stated.
The project “Lower Silesia for a Common Europe. International regional cooperation as the foundation of development and security” is being implemented as part of the programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, “Support for the civic and local-government dimension of Polish foreign policy”.
During the two-day proceedings (26–27 November) in Kyiv, the Polish side was represented by representatives of: the Institute of International Studies of the University of Wrocław, the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, the authorities of the city of Bolesławiec, the Lower Silesian Regional Development Foundation (Wrocław), and the “Foundation for Eastern Policy Forum” (Wrocław). The hosts were represented by representatives of: the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Foreign Policy Institute at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the administration of the President of Ukraine, the local authorities of the city of Kyiv, the authorities of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, the authorities of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, the Kirovohrad Regional State Administration, Ukrainian non-governmental organisations, and Kyiv’s academic community.
(information: Bolesławiec Municipal Office/ii)