The gesture is purely symbolic, “but symbols can have weight”, assures Arnaud Ngatcha, the deputy in charge of international relations at the town hall of Paris. The capital is preparing to grant its “honorary citizenship” to kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, the target of Russian bombardments. The measure will be officially taken at the next city council, Tuesday, March 22, following a debate on the situation in Ukraine in the presence of the country’s ambassador to France. “I have no doubt that the decision will be voted unanimously by the elected officials of Paris”, assures Arnaud Ngatcha.
For twenty years, Paris has regularly made “honorary citizens” people committed to the defense of fundamental freedoms throughout the world, and often imprisoned. A way for the municipality to provide them with support, even symbolic protection, but also to show Parisians that it is trying to act on subjects that arouse emotion, even if it has little means of intervention in international matters.
The distinction has been awarded twenty-nine times, to personalities such as the Franco-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt, the Bangladeshi Taslima Nasreen, the South African Nelson Mandela, the Congolese Denis Mukwege, or even to the newspaper Charlie Hebdo. “Once released, the honorary citizens often told us how much the gesture of Paris had been a comfort for them”, assures Arnaud Ngatcha.
A first for a city
With kyiv, this is the first time that this distinction will be awarded to a city. In general, Paris tends to sign friendship and cooperation agreements with the cities it wishes to support, as with Istanbul in 2009 or Yerevan in 2011.
“This time, we also asked ourselves the question, says Arnaud Ngtacha. But such an agreement legally implies reciprocity. However, with the war, it is impossible to ask kyiv to plan a support program for Paris. Moreover, if by misfortune Kyiv fell tomorrow, those who took the city could lay claim to the treaty concluded with Paris. » In agreement with the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, his counterpart Anne Hidalgo has therefore opted for this exceptional honorary citizenship.
Emergency aid of 1 million euros must also be validated on Tuesday for associations
Some elected officials, such as macronist Catherine Ibled, have also suggested naming a street near the Russian embassy after kyiv, as other cities have done, but the track was not taken up. this stage. The support provided by Paris does not stop at this show of solidarity. Emergency aid of 1 million euros must also be validated on Tuesday for associations working in Ukraine, in neighboring countries, or in Paris with Ukrainian refugees.
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