“Support for millions of Ukrainian children must be at the heart of the partnerships between Ukraine and Europe”

2023-05-18 19:00:23

GWinning the war by deepening democracy is Ukraine’s choice. Its approach: to accelerate the decentralization of power and establish cooperation partnerships with local actors in Europe. Among the immensity of the challenges concerning civilian populations, children are the priority.

This vision was clearly articulated by Ukrainian authorities at all levels at the recent Cities and Regions Summit in Kyiv.

Faced with brutal military aggression, some countries would have chosen the path of stiffening the regime. Not Ukraine. The full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022 has not deviated the country from the democratic trajectory on which it has been resolutely committed since 2014. On the contrary, despite the war, efforts have been intensified to make the more transparent and more effective governance, to fight against corruption, to strengthen the rule of law.

Decentralization of power

At the heart of these democratic efforts is the process of decentralization of power. In Ukraine, the participation of the population in the elaboration and implementation of public policies is not a wishful thinking, it is a daily reality and a social project. The current development of decentralization, in the midst of the war, gives more power to citizens, strengthens local ownership of the policies carried out and consolidates social cohesion.

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This move towards decentralization is fundamental, as it allows Ukraine to overcome the greatest challenge a nation can face: brutal military aggression by a cruel, powerful, authoritarian regime determined to destroy its national existence.

At a time when democracy is weakening everywhere, Ukraine thus offers a path to follow to renew it and rekindle the support of the people, as it showed in 2014 with Euromaidan [de Maïdan, ou « place de l’Indépendance », lieu des manifestations pro-européennes à Kiev] the value of the European project when support for it was dwindling across the continent.

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From then on, the political stakes of the war appear with clarity. Two models are in total confrontation. On the one hand, the democratic, decentralized Ukrainian model, with an increasing participation of the population in the exercise of power; on the other, the centralized, authoritarian, increasingly oppressive Russian model, supported by its authoritarian, theocratic and dictatorial allies. On the one hand, a project of liberation and projection towards the future; on the other, a disastrous attempt to go back and create a “USSR 2.0”.

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