Mayor Karácsony and Pact of Free Cities Stand by Ukraine

Hungary Today 2022.02.22.

The Pact of Free Cities — which is a cooperation agreement between the mayors of Prague, Bratislava, Warsaw, and Budapest — expressed their concern about the situation between Russia and Ukraine, and also their support towards Ukraine.

Mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, posted a letter on his Facebook page addressing Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, saying:

We are ready to extend our support in these challenging times. Feel free to reach out to us if our cities can be of any help. We would also be honored to welcome Kyiv to join the Pact of Free Cities.”

The letter was signed by several big cities’ mayors, including those who are part of the Pact of Free Cities.

Fact

The Pact of Free Cities is an open and progressive city alliance launched by mayors Gergely Karácsony  (Budapest), Matúš Vallo (Pozsony – Bratislava), Rafal  Trzaskowski  (Warsaw), and Zdeněk Hřib  (Prague) on December 16, 2019, in Budapest. The network has a three-tier set of objectives. First, the signatories pledge to protect and advance liberal democracy, pluralism, openness, and cultural diversity in our region. Second, recognizing the common challenges these four capital cities face, the alliance creates a platform to pool resources and lobby together in relation to the European Union for city-tailored, directly accessible, green EU-funding. Third, members of the alliance will take joint initiatives and launch joint projects in their prioritized policy areas, such as sustainable city planning, climate protection, social inclusion, housing, and the digital agenda, Budapest.hu writes.

The mayors write that they express their “firm commitment and unwavering support to the city of Kyiv and its citizens.” They think that “it is unacceptable that the security of your [the Ukrainian] fellow citizens, as well as the vital democratic values of your society, are in jeopardy.”

An armed aggression against Ukraine led by Russia would pose one of the most severe threats for European peace and security since World War II.”

The letter was published before Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine on Monday. The Russian president also announced a “peacekeeping mission” in the breakaway territories, and in reference to this, Russian troops had entered Ukraine.

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Meanwhile, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote on his Facebook page that he “had a telephone conversation with the President of the European Council on the situation in eastern Ukraine. “I made it clear that Hungary is part of the common EU position. The talks are ongoing,” the Prime Minister wrote. Recently, he also posted about a “special meeting” and added that the topic is the situation in eastern Ukraine.

The full letter by the Pact of Free Cities can be read here.

Featured image via Gergely Karácsony’s Facebook page