In May 6 – 7, the 5th Conference on Democracy and Human Rights and the 2nd Summit for mayors and local government leaders “Local development as security measure” were held in Kristiansand in Norway. Events were organized by the Council of Europe, the Association of Local and Regional Authorities in Norway and Kristiansand Municipality.
The Latvian local governments were represented by Mr Juris Žilko, Chairman of Ķekava municipality council, Mr Aleksejs Stecs, Chairman of Rēzekne city council, Mr Edgars Mekšs, Chairman of Ludza municipality council, and Ms Ginta Kraukle, Deputy chairman of Līvāni municipality council.
The conference agenda was focused on future cooperation among European countries, renewal of Ukraine after the war, as well as freedom of speech and media, and artificial intelligence.
During the forum, Mr Žilko highlighted the main challenges after beginning of the war that are faced by the Latvian local governments bordering the aggressor. The importance of democracy strengthening and mutual cooperation was pointed out, referring to the research initiated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development on the ‘Impact of War in Ukraine on EU Eastern Border Regions’ funded by EEA grants.
Initiative is implemented within the framework of the pre-defined project “Facilitation of inter-municipal cooperation and enhancement of good governance principles in Latvian local governments” which was implemented in EEA financial instrument 2014 – 2021 period programme “Local development, poverty reduction and cultural cooperation”. EEA financial instrument is a grant provided by Island, Lichtenstein and Norway.