Cities and regions must have access to Ukraine reconstruction funds - Alliance

Ukrainian cities and regions need to have a robust role in the planning, governance and implementation of reconstruction support.

That’s according to a joint statement by the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports citing a story by the European Newsroom (ENR) in cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).

Meeting on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) 2026 in Gdańsk, Poland, the alliance called for a "localisation marker" in donor planning tools and ring-fenced funding with direct local access.

Antje Grotheer, President of the State Parliament in Bremen, Germany, and chair of the European Committee of the Regions’ (CoR) Working Group on Ukraine, argued that local and regional authorities should have a greater voice in donor discussions and reconstruction planning. She stressed that Ukraine's decentralisation reforms have been key to maintaining resilience during the war.

“We feel there is an increasing need for stronger coordination of support that targets municipalities and regions,” Grotheer said.