 Good morning to you all and a very warm welcome in the lovely city of Rotterdam. Welcome to this EPP Congress and welcome to the EPP meeting of the Committee of the Regions. My name is Bitske Posma, I'm a former Member of Parliament and I will be your moderator during this session. I wish you all a very warm welcome for the people who are here with us in this room but also the people who are here online and especially a warm welcome to our Ukrainian friends who are here with us today and with us online as well. It's amazing to see how many of you, how many EPP regional local leaders have supported our friends in Ukraine. They've kept people together, they've provided the basic needs for the refugees and we're standing there defending freedom and democracy in their country. I would like to give a special warm welcome for the speakers today. There is interpretation provided in French, Ukrainian and English and I would give a small recommendation to the speakers to stick to the five minutes that we have provided. We've got a very nice program with you today for you today talking about Ukraine, some very special guests who you will see soon in the free panel session. But first I would like to give a very warm welcome to Mr. Olga Gieblewicz, President of the EPP Committee of the Regions group and President of the West Romanian region. I'd like to give the floor to you. Thank you very much dear colleagues, dear friends. It's a great honor and of course pleasure for me to welcome you in this EPP local dialogue. It takes place in this outstanding context of the Congress of our political family, the EPP. Not just a simple meeting, but the moment to take grand decisions about the leadership of our party and to discuss the EPP line in the immense challenges and shocks that European Union is facing. This local dialogue wouldn't have been possible without the fantastic help and support of our colleagues and friends from Christian Democratic Appeal of the Netherlands. So thank you very much Helen Nauta, she will speak in a few minutes on behalf of her party. Thank you very much Witzke Potsma, our excellent moderator who will help the smooth development of the panels ahead of us. And of course thank you very much to all our distinguished guests and speakers, including our friends from Ukraine. Welcome to the local dialogue of the EPP group in the European Committee of Regions. This is your house and we are more than ever united by our common values of members of the largest and strongest political family in European Union. The war in Ukraine and its repercussions evolve at the lighting speed. We have to keep up with extremely fast pace of events, mobilizing our own regional and local resources in matter of days, where previously it took weeks or months, so to provide aid for the Ukrainian people in need. Every day we hear shocking news about death, devastation, atrocities, Ukrainian flees their house. We express our deepest grief about the loss of life and human suffering caused by Russian indiscriminated brutality. We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine who are defending their country against Russian invaders. I align to what Ursula von der Leyen said last month in front of local leaders of Ukraine. Dear friends, dear sisters and brothers, we are an inspiration for so many around the world. We are with you in a spirit and with a concrete spot. For weeks now Ukraine is being slowly destroyed. We cannot let it happen. The Ukrainian government looks forward to rebuilding key infrastructures, schools, hospitals, roads, houses, so that many millions of refugees can return to their safe homes. And massive financial support from institutional donators, particularly the EU, UK and partners are asking for know-how, best available technologies and expertise. The mechanism for reconstruction will include a strong sub-national element such as twinning between cities and regions in Ukraine and in the EU. We must be on the side of our Ukrainian partners on their path to the European Union. For every damaged city, there must be at least another one, twin city in Europe. On every Ukrainian Oblast, we have to have at least one European supporting region, just like Mari region, West Pomeranian region supports Mikolayev Oblast. So we can make that happen and we are at work to make it happen. In this regard, I wish to highlight here a strong leadership of our president, Citikostas, who reshaped the priorities of his presidency precisely to meet this new unexpected needs. We have to bear in mind that decentralization and regional development reforms in the recent years in Ukraine contributed significantly to the consolidation of local democracy, government self-governance and overall resilience of the country's local communities. They are a crucial element for Ukrainian resilience against Russian invaders. The war has also created new challenges for our cities and regions, particularly in terms of energy security. Therefore, we need urgently to diversify our energy resources and our energy suppliers as a response to Russian atrocities committed to Ukraine in blackmail, but also as an impetus to speed up the implementation of European Green Deal, making our local communities climate neutral by 2050. Green transition is real. Green transition is possible and we have plenty of good examples to share. For example, I'm very proud that my region, West Pomeranian region uses more than 82% of energy from renewable resources thanks to our support, our regional support and of course support from the EU funds. And today we will also listen to inspiring examples of the EPP-led cities and regions who are pioneers in energy transition. Dear colleagues, the EPP local and regional leaders need to act now. We need to continue pushing for a full ban on imports of Russian gas and oil in Europe as soon as possible as its case in coal. We also need to abandon completely Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 projects and focus on the greater energy efficiency, greater savings and mentioned in the recently published Power EU plan and quicker rollout renewable energy in our communities, only by working together and speaking with one voice, we can use this current context to make decisive choices for our regions, cities and villages become more resilient, sustainable and dynamic places to live and work for us, for our citizens and of course for our children. I wish you fruitful discussion, thank you very much and I'm very pleased to welcome Manfred Weber who joined us in this moment. Thank you very much for your words, like you said we are in the phase that we do face grand decisions that we need to take with strong leadership and you've given some good examples of the twin cities but also about how we can use renewable energy to gain strength as Europe. Very warm welcome to Manfred Weber as well, thank you very much for joining us. I would first like to welcome Mrs. Ellen Nauta who is Chairwoman of the Dutch delegation of the Committee of the Regions and also Mayor of the lovely region of Hof van Twente which is in the east of the Netherlands for those who would like to visit. Thank you Witzke. Good morning to all guests present here today, a special welcome to the representatives of the Ukraine. Mr. Boychenko who is over there, my colleague from Mariupol and Mrs. Jeorova Luchenko of the Kharkiv Regional Council and also all other guests, Mr. Weber and others. It is with much pride that after the kind and interesting opening words of the president of the EPP group in the Committee of the Regions, Mr. Glebevic, I may also welcome you on behalf of the Dutch delegation to the Committee. The Dutch delegation consists of 12 members and their alternates originating from Dutch municipalities and provinces. Together we work within the framework of the Committee on several topics. I briefly mention a few. Strategic autonomy and interconnectivity due to the false changes in a highly connected world economy, we feel the urge to become less dependent on, for example, China and Russia when it comes to vital economic sectors such as food, energy and industries. Secondly, the relationship between governance and citizens. In Europe and also in the world, democracies, the rule of law and our fundamental values are under pressure. The relationship with our citizens is of vital importance and if well taken care of can counter this tide. In Holland, we therefore invest, for example, in youngsters in dialogue and in the conference on the future of Europe. Thirdly, the interweaving of the green and digital transition. This interweaving is increasing year by year and will influence European laws and regulations as well as, for example, the combat for climate neutral cities and regions. And finally, the focus on and attention for the consequences of conflicts, natural disasters and crisis for local communities in Europe and the world. Based on these global topics, the Dutch delegation to the Committee has special attention for the consequences for our Dutch local communities when it comes to the European Prohesion Policy, the long-term policies for rural areas, the smart cities activities, Green Deal, European Governance, the rule of law and other policy areas. We are proud to be active members of the Committee. For us, the Committee of the Regions and all that it stands for and works on is important and indispensable. The Committee brings Europe closer to its citizens, due to the hard work of its members and our presidents and due to the commitment of the EPP within the Committee. Thanks to our European EPP family, we can make a difference for our citizens. Let me close by stating that I'm also proud that the Committee has intensified contacts with our Ukrainian friends from the beginning of this unjust, cruel and inhumane war. Although the solution of this meaningless conflict is not entirely in our hands, the least we can do is stand in solidarity with our friends and colleagues who are facing the severe consequences every day. The least we can do is asking our governments to be committed to end this war, every day and relentlessly. Today, we will do so again as EPP family. Thank you and on behalf of the Dutch delegation, I wish you an inspiring, committed and binding Congress. Thank you. Well, thank you very much for your words. And thank you as well, both of you, for co-hosting this dialogue. We have, of course, a big topic for today, cities and regions standing with Ukraine. And we've divided in three parts. First, we'll be building a European future for Ukraine, solidarity and practice and building resilient, sustainable and energy independent cities and regions. But first of all, I would like to welcome Mr. Weber on the stage. And I have a special warm welcome as well for Mr. Hortefat Lutsenko, who I would like to welcome on the stage as well. And online with us is Vadim Bochenko, who I would like to welcome today to the meeting. Yes, please. So thank you very much. I would like to, so sorry, I would like to first of all, welcome our guests for the first panel. We have Ms. Weber-Hortefat Lutsenko, she's head of the Karkov Regional Council. And we would express our honor for you to be here. We have online visible now Mr. Vadim Bochenko, of course, Mayor from Mariupol, the city that has become a symbol of the heroic resistance, has become a symbol of the heroic resistance of the Ukraine people against Russia, against the Russian brutality. The whole world has followed the fight of Afsastu site, and not only that. With one voice and one soul, the members of the EPP group in the European Committee of the Regions welcome our guests of speakers of Ukraine today as part of the European family. We share the same fundamental values of freedom, peace, democracy and safeguarding of human rights. The unprovoked and unjustified invasion of the Free Nation of Ukraine by the Russian Federation Army is a criminal act against the people of Ukraine. Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the freedom of Ukraine for self-determination and the brutal violation of democratic principles and the rule of law. The EPP regional and local leaders stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine who are defending their country against the Russian invaders. Millions of refugees have reached the European Union with numbers rising every day. From these refugees, many are children. Cities and regions provide first aid and shelter for Ukrainian refugees in many cities and regions across Europe. I would like to point out that the need to have a long term vision, not only an emotional and emergency reactions to recent offenses needed, and according to Ukraine, the medium term and long term vision includes reconstruction, which must be carried out with the participation of European local and regional authorities and possibly with the help of sister cities in the EU. Tatiana Yehorovalychenko and Vadim Bochenko, you are the grassroot leaders across Ukraine. You know best what your citizens need in your towns and in the region. You will be the builders and organizers on the ground. The local link through building your new Ukraine and local and regional leaders in the EU are best placed to understand your needs and offer practical, concrete, and operational expertise. It is therefore a special honor for me to welcome two high level guest speakers that will lead us into the actual situation of the war, the conditions of the Ukraine people and the perspective to the future. And it's twice a privilege to welcome this debate, the candidate president of the EPP, Mr. Manfred Weber. I would like to Mr. Bochenko to have a special warm welcome to you. And I would like to ask you to give us an update of the situation that you have in Mariupol right now. Of course we are very concerned with how it is. So please I would like to give the floor to you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome dear European community. Thanks a lot for the opportunity provided to me to tell you in the voice of our heroic city what the situation is like now. At the beginning of the speech I would like to ask the main question. What is the European future now personally for our heroic Mariupol? That very Mariupol that is 90% destroyed by the Russian invaders. That very Mariupol in which the invaders have killed more than 20,000 civilians, women, children, elderly people. Over the recent eight months we have been building modern European city with comfortable parks and squares with modern schools and hospitals with new public transport that already had well-repeared infrastructural objects and roads. We were building this together with the European community, together with you, the success and progress of Mariupol was our joint victory because more than 200 million euros of investment were involved in the development of our city. Our partners included the European Bank Reconstruction Development, European Investment Bank, the Treasury of France, NAFCO and a lot of other international partners. But our joint European future was destroyed by the other world. The world which unfortunately doesn't know the word democracy. The world which unfortunately doesn't know what freedom and the freedom of choice in particular is. The world that understands only the language of destruction's atrocities. That is the so-called Ruski Mir or Pax Rusica, the antagonism of the modern democratic society and the world. Mariupol over the last eight years was the leader in terms of implementation of European values has come to know all the atrocities and all the ruthlessness of this brutal, bloody and very terrible war. That war happened only because we chose a different view of our life, a different path. The fight of Mariupol on the whole of our Ukraine is the fight for our common democratic free future. That is about the future of Ukraine as a part of the civilized world and that's the future of all of us and war is closer to all of us than it seems to some people. The war is already in the European continent. While speaking about the future of our city, we need to start with our victory, the victory of Ukraine over this evil over the Russian invaders. It is the victory of Ukraine that will mark the beginning of our joint safe and democratic future. That is the beginning of a new story where there is no place for tyranny, imperialism and real fascism of the 21st century. That is the beginning of the history where Ukrainian Mariupol would be a part of the European community, but we need support from European countries. We need more resistance to really protect our European values, our lives and our freedom, which is the main thing, our independence. We need more decisive economic sanctions against Russia for us to be able to stop feeding this military machine. We need a full embargo on Russian oil and gas. And behind those political decisions, unfortunately, there are millions of lives of our heroes of Ukrainians. Every day of delay leads to immense consequences and high cost. It's much more than tens of thousands of euros. Unfortunately, the Ukrainians are now paying a high price. This is the price which they pay in the form of their freedom of their lives. They pay for the freedom of their whole world. They pay not with money, but with their own lives. We are paying the highest cost. So I want all of us to realize that I, as a mayor of Mariupol, really grateful to you for the support provided by our European partners ranging from humanitarian assistance up to military assistance, which is all the more important. Each dear decision, each standpoint of yours develops a very good foundation on which we intend to build social and free future of our country, Ukraine. And I'm sure that it is with your support that Ukraine will definitely win the way light wins over darkness. Peace will get back to our heroic city of Mariupol. I've realized that this is not going to be easy. We're going to face tough times. But the main thing is that it will definitely happen. And this will happen after our victory, after Mariupol is liberated. After that, we will liberate it and we will rebuild a modern European city. Already now, we are developing a strategy for the revival and reconstruction of Mariupol. And the point is not only, the point is only about the fact whether we are alone or we are, as always, within our European family. Unfortunately, Russia has destroyed Mariupol. It has brought into our city only death and destructions. The countries of the civilized world may bring to Mariupol life and development. That is going to be our rebuff in our response to the Russian invasion, the response on behalf of the common European future. And that will be victory of life over death, victory of a free and democratic world over this imperialistic world view. Thanks a lot to you. Glory to Heroes of Mariupol and glory to Ukraine. Well, thank you very much for your words. And I think you've expressed very well in the darkness that you are now with your city and the citizens. And it is time to bring the light and offer our help. And I think one of the most important things that we need to do is not only help on the short term, like you said, but also consider the long term strategy. I would like to ask Mr Weber, who is here, candidates for the European, for the EPP presidency, to give a reaction, please, on the words and the comments. Dear friends, it is extremely difficult in these times to directly react after we got such a report and such an appeal to us from our friends in Ukraine, because our contribution seems to be so small. Having in mind that our Ukrainian friends are fighting our fight. Having in mind that this is not a fight between Russia or war between Russia and Ukraine alone. On the ground, yes, it is. But it is a fight from Putin and the dictatorship in Moscow against us, against all of us. And that's why, again, the first reaction seems always to be very difficult for us. What can I say in such a situation? But if our words are probably not easy because you are suffering so much currently and you're fighting a brave fight, and I'm sometimes also reflecting, I don't know how you think about this, but what would I do in such a situation now? Would I stand up and fight for my values? Just to reflect for ourselves. So probably this gives us an indication about how brave, how strong, how engaged our friends are. And I want to pay deep respect for what are you doing there. Again, having this in mind, our small contribution, it must give us a motivation to be then strong on our steps we can do on our side. And that's why some of the issues are already mentioned. When it is about the sanctions, we have to be tough on these economic sanctions. And I want to underline that the first five packages we made on European level are strong. We were together, even on global level, with our friends in Canada, in America, in Japan. So we were together and we showed strength as a Western world. Now the sixth package this night agreed on the council level was not easy to manage, but even this I would say, let's underline we are ready. I was underlined today said that in the end of the years, we will reduce oil from Russia by around 90%. That is ambitious. That is good. That is what we are doing. Putin is destroying on the long run each and every economic perspective for his country. He has no chance anymore to survive this economy. So that is what he's doing currently. So there we are united and strong, also the budgetary support because for the mayors in Ukraine, it's so important to simply have currently resources, money to do the job and economies going out of the country, investments are not anymore there. So that's why everybody understand that the economic demand, the money, the budgetary demand, demands are so high. That's why the 9 billion euros this night agreed on the council level to support our Ukraine friends is so urgently needed. It's not that moment where we count each and every euro. It's simply a moment where we have to support our Ukraine friends in this moment of history. So that is already good what we are doing there. I would add that the most important thing next to the budget and also to the sanctions is absolutely the weapons questions. So there we are struggling that we have not a European approach. We have national decisions on the table. I can only tell you that I am really angry about the socialists, the German Chancellor, for example, Olaf Scholz, who didn't show any kind of leadership, didn't show any kind of determination of readiness to give clear signal that Germany as one of the countries inside of the European Union is on the side of our Ukraine friends. He was only pushed by the public opinion to do the steps and we are a party, dear friends. Let's be honest, the socialists, there is still all over Europe, the Russian friendly network there is there. And that's why let's be proud about EPP because we are pushing all over Europe for full solidarity and for also delivering of happy weapons to our Ukraine friends. It's necessary. It's now necessary and not in a few months. That is another aspect where we are. We have to be clear. I want to add that this whole war is bringing us to further considerations. Olga and I listened at the end to your contribution today. And when it is about energy, it's obvious that the war is now pushing us and assisting us and giving us further arguments to speed up on the fit for 55 to go further on the climate change. We will vote in the European Parliament next week on the fit for 55 package and we as EPP stick to the 55 approach, 55% approach. We stick to an ambitious approach. We have to speed up. That creates a future where we are more independent, where we have cheaper energy in that of the European Union. That's a good future, which we will go in the next years. And we have to do it together. Like you said it in your intervention, local communities and European level, national level, we have to do it together. And if I also may add this war where I must clearly say that one of the aims of the clear directions is that Putin must lose this war. That must be the clear aim. Why? Dear friends, because if he wins or if he would partly win then autocrats all over the world will be motivated to go further. We will wake up in a totally different world only to mention China and Taiwan. Everybody knows what I mean. That's why he cannot win. He must lose. That's our goal together. And that is what we have to fight for. And there at the EPP, and I'm proud about this, is a strong and a united political family in these points. Also on the council side in the parliament, national parliament and especially in the regions and on the local ground. And as a final point, allow me next to this very fundamental point on Ukraine. Let me thank all of you for your engagement in the EPP format to work for strong voice of our local communities. I would say having in mind that EPP is today the mayor's party of Europe, the governor's party of Europe. We are strong on the local ground. We have a lot of people who have the direct trust of the citizens to be elected on the local ground means a lot democratically. That's why we as family, we can be proud about having such a strong group in the committee of regions. I want to thank Olga for his work. He's a strong ambassador of our group in the EPP family. I see Apostolo sitting in front of me, the president of the committee of regions, a strong representative, a strong voice. Sometimes a demanding voice who is asking a lot, but that is his role and he's doing a great job. And again, I'm really proud that we have in the EPP such a strong team on the committee of regions. We have the feet on the ground. That is what we have as EPP. We know what is going on because we are every day in contact with people. That's why thank you so much and thank you also for this strong message of solidarity with our Ukraine friends. Thank you very much. And especially like you said, we are the people that have the feet on the ground. We have the direct contact with all the citizens there. I would like to ask you are head of the Karkov region and you were under cool Russian fire in the first few days of the war. Is there still an imminent danger for your region, posed by the Russian invaders? It's the mic working. First of all, I would like to pass my regards to them. May of Mariupol keep holding on. So I've traveled many miles to be here today. You could not have done that. So you are joining us over Zoom. Unfortunately, our men cannot leave the territory of the country. Our men have to stay in the country. But I feel your pain because we share the same pain with you. Dear colleagues, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. President and also to the EPP Council of Regents crew. Ukraine has selected its path, not today, not yesterday and not on the 24th of February. We have selected the European path. We are the same people as you are. I'm the same woman as you are. I also have children just like you do. And we don't want to be destroyed by Russia. And the people of Ukraine, together with its president, will fight until the end, until the last drop of blood. Be sure in our victory. It's not my first time being here at this meeting thanks to the president of Titovostas. At first, I even came here wearing black gloves. Today, I'm wearing white. And I'd like to assert that Ukraine is strong and our regions are already working on the development of strategies for rebuilding the cities and towns. It's hard for us to fight our fight alone in war. And it will also be hard for us to rebuild the cities by ourselves. As far as Kharkiv region is concerned, I would like to mention the following. On the 9th of May, this landmark day, we had a session of Kharkiv Regional Council. And all the deputies of Kharkiv Regional Council have made the decision to designate Russia as the aggressor. Even though Kharkiv region is very close to the border with Russia, we have very many people in the region that are Russian speakers, but nobody was ready to what was about to happen to the region and to our country. That's why all the deputies of Regional Council designated Russia as the aggressor. And no occupation or no referendums would not be acknowledged by our deputies. On the 26th of May, just very recently, several days ago, I was having a meeting even though we were having a complicated situation. I was working on site and heard shelling right in the city center. So what do we have as a result? Nine casualties, a kid, five months old infant. It was just several days ago. We are getting used to that, but we don't want to get used to living like this, to go to the bomb shelters. Our children understand that they need to hide when the air raid alarm is off, but we continue our work. And after the armed forces of Ukraine have liberated many settlements in Kharkiv region, 600,000 of our residents have come back. More than a million have left and 600,000 are already back. And it's a testament that it will be easier for you as well because these people have been staying in your countries in Europe. But our people want to return home. It's very important for us because we are waiting for them. But the important thing is that it's safe to come back. The first Kharkiv region is concerned with the rebuilding of the region and the country. So two days ago, presidents of the landscape visited the region. He examined those districts that were destroyed by Russians completely. That is why people cannot come back to them. Together with the city mayor, Mr. Terehov, we are currently helping the people staying in the underground. I'm sure you have seen that. So these people are getting accommodation in the dormitories, other sanatoriums, so that they have temporary accommodation. We are providing them with everything they need. And I would like to express my particular gratitude to our international partners with this humanitarian aid that we've been receiving has been essential. It helps us supply people with everything they need. After the visit of the president to the region, he has outlined an action plan. The war is going on, but we are already thinking about rebuilding. We have a strategy for each of the regions. We have identified the number of buildings destroyed, and we have ascertained the funding that will be required. So we are working daily, of course, with the support of our international partners. I would like to support the initiative mentioned by Sysokostas and our first speaker, the initiative of the twinning cities. This is very important. I know that you have a twinning region. Kharkiv region has a twinning region, the Kupolsky Voivodeship in Poland. And two weeks ago, we signed an agreement with one of the French regions. So I would like to mention that for us mayors, your support is very important. Partnership does not have to deal with the economy only with the funding. The moral support is no least important. Humanitarian aid is very important. The fact that you receive our citizens is also very important. So these are the main directions in which we are working as the regional government, establishing cooperation with international partners, inventory of the damage caused by the invaders. And what is also very important that was mentioned by the president, receiving some international guarantees through the rebuilding of our region. So that is if to be brief. But I would like to express my gratitude, and I wish everybody for cooperation. Thank you for supporting Ukraine. Very much. I think you stressed very well that a child should never get used to running to bomb shelters when the alarm goes off. And I think you asked very clearly, like Mr. Gebrowich said at the beginning, for the help of the twin cities as a very good way of not only getting emotional support, but also support in all the ways. And I would like to thank you very much for coming here, because you've traveled a long way. And I think it must be very hard for you to leave your country behind in a situation like that, to leave your family behind. And so thank you very much for that, Mr. and maybe I have one more question for you. We stressed the importance of the twin cities of the support that we can give here with with the regions. Could you please give a reflection on that? Well, in such an emotional moment, when we see the attacks, when we see what is destroyed there, I think the emotional perspectives that individuals that people care that among cities we care is probably more important than big speeches from big politicians. That's why the idea is a great one. I thank you so much for the initiative to present this and to make this now happening. And I think this direct contact also is on practical terms important, because when it is about humanitarian assistance, when it is about also giving probably migrants and an access and also an anchor point in a way where they can that they can come to. This is easier to be organized than on the local base, because again, feeds on the ground to be then organized than on national or even European level. And I learned this when I had the chance to visit, for example, the migration, the migrants camps and the welcome centers in the European soil. I was in Warsaw, for example, I was a mayor of Warsaw in front of us. And when you are there and when you are speaking there with people, you really get a good idea about what is happening there and that the main, let me say effort, the main burden is managed by the local communities, by the regions, not so much by national like in Poland, for example, is really impressive to see. That's why all these driving contacts are great initiatives and the VPP is picking this up as a main initiative from our side. We can be proud about this. So Rafael, you did it in Warsaw, in a lot of cities, we are doing so. And that's great. If you allow me, I want to welcome the former president of the European Parliament, Antoni Tajani, who is with us. Antoni, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for being with us. Well, thank you very much. I would like to give a last thanks to the speakers that we've had. Mr Bochenko, who's joined us through Zoom, Mr Johorofa Lutsenko and Mr Manfred Beiber. Thank you very much for your contribution. I would like to invite three other guests to come to the floor, please. That is Rafael Traskowski, Mayor of Warsaw, Emil Bok, Mayor of Poland, Roman Linek, Vice President of the Partjubin region. Hello, nice. I would like to start with the second part, which is solidarity with Ukraine. This is also the part where we have a panelist here and where we would like you to ask questions. So if you're here in room and have questions, they can be asked right at the end. So be ready for them. And there's also a possibility if you're online to contribute to the meeting by asking your questions in the chat, and then they will be reached here and be asked as well. So once the war started in February in Ukraine, we've of course seen a lot of power from the regions, the different regions that we have, the ones very close to Ukraine, like the city of Warsaw, who had immediately a big refugee stream coming to the city and they responded very adequately, as we've all seen. So I would first like to introduce the Mayor of Warsaw, Mr. Traskowski. And thank you very much for coming. I think you've hosted well over 300,000 refugees in your city. And as I understood correctly, that's more than 15% increase of the population of your city. And we've I think all seen the images, the pictures of the people arriving and the very well set up welcome with the accommodation, the sanitary facilities, food, medical, psychological assistance, which I think has been quite a challenge to set up. So I'm very interesting from you responded immediately to the situation. My first question would be from the first day. What was the first thing that you did as a Mayor of your city, seeing all the refugees come to your city? Thank you. Good morning. It's a pleasure to be here in Rotterdam, especially in Ahoy. I come here every year for North Sea Jazz Festival, which is one of the best in the world. So I'll be back in a month. Anyhow, guys, on a serious matter, first of all, thank you very much for the invitation. And the thing is I'll start with one thing. I was just talking to some experts about different nature of different crises. And they were differentiating between crises and most importantly, between those which are expected and unexpected, those which were creeping, and those which happened suddenly and so on and so forth. And I think that we do have a problem with definition because we knew in Poland it was coming. And we were actually telling our friends, you know, I was a member of the European Parliament, I worked in the European Parliament before, I was a Minister of European Integration, and for years we were saying, okay, guys, wake up because we are dealing with a thug. We are dealing with a guy who is completely unpredictable. And when we were trying to set up the energy union in the European Union, many people were looking at us and they were saying, you are obsessed with Russia. Why? We don't need that. So why am I telling you that? Because we were not surprised. We were not taken aback by what happened. Of course, no one expected a crisis of that dimension. And I was in Kiev just four days before the war started to talk to Vitaly Klitschko. And we all expected there would be a conflict, but we thought it's going to be another hybrid war. We didn't expect an all out war. But we were preparing for it. So we had a crisis situation meeting just a day before the war. And we had a brainstorming session and we decided to set up information points at two railway stations, also east and also west, in order to be prepared. And then boom, the next day, the war started. So the next day, we established those welcoming centers and we were ready to actually welcome our Ukrainian friends on the day one of the war. And of course, at the beginning, most of the people who came to Warsaw, you know, they were taken care of by their family, by their friends. So out of thousands who were coming just. And of course, the situation has changed during a week because there was a need for this help. So you say that we were really prepared and of course, but you have a lot more refugees than you expected. So what is the system of recolonization of the European Union? Yes, of course, of course, we had to improvise too. Sorry to interrupt Veronica. And most of the job was done by the people themselves, by non-governmental organizations, and of course, by local governments as well. The government, the central government did its job on the border, but then it was really late in coming to assist us. And the biggest problem is that there is no strategy. And, you know, we've been calling for one for the past three months. I will probably in the course of the discussion give you examples, for example, about education and so on and so forth. But yes, we need a European strategy. We need a voluntary relocation scheme. I mean, all the quotas that we discussed in 2015-16 are dead. You know, that's the dead fish in the water. But there are many pledges coming from different countries. The Netherlands was one of the first to actually come to assistance. And we simply need to coordinate it better because we need a structured approach. We cannot improvise anymore because most of the people are at people's homes and simply people took their Ukrainian friends in, but many of them cannot do it indefinitely. They agreed to do it for a few months. But what if in a month or two they will say, you know, I cannot do it anymore? We need to be prepared for that. And we also need to be prepared for any scenario which might unravel in Ukraine because we don't know what's going to happen. The situation might stabilize, but it might also escalate. So you're calling for a mid-term strategy and also a long-term both strategies thinking at the same time. What do we do with the refugees that are here now? Like you said, they've been very well, they've been with families now, but the time is running out that the short-term strategy has to turn into mid-term and long-term. Do you consider the EU funding to be enough for what you are doing? Or is it something that you said from when we need more of that? Or is it more the strategy that you're actually concerned with? Well, I mean, the most important strategy, I'm just going to give you one example. Day two of the war, we went to see the Minister of Education. We don't have an easy relation with this guy because he's the most conservative of the crazy government. And of course, he just wanted to introduce indoctrination in schools. So we do have a problem with this guy, but we approached him in goodwill and told him, listen, we need a strategy. We cannot accept all the kids who come to Warsaw immediately in our schools because we don't know how many we will have. And now we have around 60, 80,000 kids in Warsaw alone, maybe even 100,000 in Warsaw and the counties around it. We have 280,000 kids in our schools, Polish kids. So we've enrolled already more than almost 20,000 kids into our kindergarten schools, but we cannot do it indefinitely. So we said, listen, how about the majority of our Ukrainian friends will do online learning on an Ukrainian platform, and then we will teach them Polish gradually and then maybe accept them to our school system and accept directly only those who are prepared speak a bit of Polish because otherwise it doesn't make any sense. And the government didn't accept any strategy, didn't do any strategy. They simply said, you know, we, I mean, the online thing is not our thing, you know, we are not going to organize it. So I do have a problem planning long term. And even if someone comes and asks me, how can I help if there is no strategy, how am I supposed to answer that question? If we do online learning that I need IT solutions, I need more computers. If I am to accept more and more in my schools, then I of course need completely different kind of assistance. So that's the problem. That's why we need a strategy. And answering your question, this is the biggest paradox ever. I haven't seen a dime of EU money yet. I've seen American money through UNICEF and so on. And Americans are simply, you know, paying the UN agencies, which is a good idea because then it goes directly to refugees, non-governmental organizations and local governments. And for example, we hire Ukrainian teachers to help us out in schools, teachers from among the refugees. So you're killing, you know, two birds with one stone. It's a very good solution. So we have that money, European money? No, not yet. Which is, which is, and of course, the European Union, I understand the European commission because it doesn't have an additional budget. So it simply says, use the money that is already there. Okay. And the regional fund, and that's the only money I see because I don't see the government's money. They don't show it to us. They don't say what's committed, what's not committed. There's only 4 million euros for the whole region. That's the money we can use. I mean, if you talk about using unused funds, and for learning is not going to help us either. And the last thing I want to say, and that's what we're fighting for, is that at least some of the money should be used directly by cities and local governments who are dealing with this problem. And that's by the way the position of the committee of the regions. We've did it when it came to the green funding, but this is equally important when it comes to refugees, because we are the first front of every conflict you want. Green, greening of our economy, dealing with pandemic, dealing with refugees, it's the cities which are the first front. Thank you. Mr. Emil Bok, you are a marriage of Cluna Pocca and former prime minister of Romania. In Cluna Pocca, you had the grassroots action of 13,000 people replying on Facebook offering help. And I heard that this was something that actually never happened in your region before. And it was so effective and contagious in a good way that it started spreading all over Romania. And a lot of people, just citizens, offered their help and offered first aid kits, medical students were there, and they traveled to the border actually giving those supplies to the Ukrainian people. That must have been something that you found very impressive and something to be proud of, I believe. What was your role in actually making this bigger like that happens with grassroots? Thank you so much. Thank you so much for the invitation. We have three months of war, but in the same time, three months of remarkable unity in the response to the Russian invasion in Europe. And I'd like to underline one, President Weber said before, we have this unity in Europe and the response of all governments due to the people's reaction. So I'm answering to your question, due to the people reactions all over the Europe, the governments are united and took a strong point against Russian invasion. So I'm proud to be European citizens because our European citizens force our governments to do it in this way. And the second aspect is about victory. I'm looking for a strategic defeat of Russia, one that would ensure that Russia is incapable of mounting a similar attack again. And we have to be aware that we want to be sure to have the same definition of victory in Ukraine, European Union and the United States. It's so important to understand the same thing by victory. And what President Weber said before, yes, we need a victory in order to be sure that no authoritarian region would be again in place to set our democracy and our European way of life. From that perspective, we found a strong fantastic solidarity in our city all over Romania and in Poland and all over Europe. So we just do it our job, which was easier having our citizens on board. In this very moment, I want to tell you that what means quite a little for us means a lot for Ukrainian people, for Ukrainian authorities. We took very seriously the message of President Zikostas. He took the decision to encourage the sister city partnership. We have a sister city partnership with Chernivtsi, and we already sent a lot of support to four cities in Ukraine and other three cities in Moldova. And let's be honest, shall we answer to the question, can we have now or wait to the end of the world? My answer is now. We cannot wait until the end of the war in order to help the Ukrainian cities because first they need day to day support, meal and so on. Second, repair the critical infrastructure, bridges, hospitals, education facilities, and they need support. And of course, on the third level, we need to work on how to rebuild the economy, not based on Soviet model, based on European model with green and resilient. So here I'm asking you to use the sister city partnership as was done by President Zikostas to help each region from Ukraine. And we have another model very, very good. We as a city, we have a sister cities partnership with many cities in Europe. Some cities in Europe do not have sister cities in Ukraine. So they use us as a bridge in order to help the Ukrainian cities. So we had the city of Dijon from France, the city of Cologne from Germany. They sent us money and materials and we used to send them to different parts in Europe. So I think all these arguments should be used in order to improve that. I think you give a very good example of how practical this is. We say we partner with a city and we provide what is needed. And I hear you also say because we've partnered, we know what it needed because we team up and we offer like a kind of hub function function to offer your help from other cities who can deliver to you to other cities. So I think this is a really nice example of how the partnership of cities is working out. One city from Ukraine asked us to send secondhand trolleybus because they have been affected on the public transport. So we sent three to five trolleybus from our city to them in order to have temporary to help them to have the public transport in place. So any support is very welcome from small size to the bigger size. That's very nice and very fast and practical. Mr. Lienek, of course you are Vice President of the party with region in the Czech Republic and your region also immediately started delivering medical supplies, gasoline generators, the very practical things and also the trucks filled with humanitarian aid. And you've actually grown quite well in that role and increasingly helped more. And we were asking for what from your point of view is needed now for helping the Ukrainian citizens. Thank you for the invitation. Have a nice day for everybody. I think although for humanitarian and defense purposes the Czechs collected in the first two weeks on conflicts almost 80 million euros, there is still a lot to be covered. I think the trends are changing. After the first wave of the big solidarity, I haven't met such solidarity in my country before, we must start thinking of sustainable help. And let me give a few numbers. Czech Republic has around 10 and a half million inhabitants. Before the conflict, lived in the Czech Republic 200,000 Ukrainian workers with Czech or Polish permits, working permits. Since then came 360,000 refugees of which it's more than the second biggest city in our country. And out of which 150,000 are women, 128,000 are children and young people, and 12,000 are seniors. It's very good news that recently I spoke with our ministry for social affairs, almost 60,000 new refugees already found jobs. And it's nice that a little bit participate to the social and taxi system. But because most refugees are women with children and elderly, this puts big pressure, especially on healthcare system, social care, benefits, and education system, especially the preschools and elementary schools. But we accept it. Are you offering online schooling as well? Yeah, it's both, it's up to the refugees, they decided to use the online or the direct visit to the schools. And we manage it, everything till now. But I think it's important to mention it's vital to strengthen and deepen cooperation between state, region, and cities in their distribution of information, responsibility, and material and finance, finance support. And towards the EU, the state I think shall be a national coordinator with good forming communication strategies based on thousand information for regions and cities. Yeah, so you need a national coordinator and you're also saying that the twin city is very effective. And what do you think long term should be done? Let's say what I mentioned, most pressure, healthcare, social care, education, plus accommodation, I think is distinguished among those who wish to return, that's the best way, and those who wish to stay permanently and become, in our case, the Czech citizens. And these future citizens will have different needs. They need to learn language, get training, get the notification and find jobs, or obtain the driving license or permits. But the long accommodation is really a big problem. And we have a very tangent housing market is expensive. And I think the pressure on markets will be will be really high. But biggest challenge, I think actual challenge is to keep social peace and natural solidarity in society of overall economic situation is getting worse, including Czech Republic. And this could lead to extremism, supposed by the Russian cyber works and disinformation campaign. That's a very important point that you're stressing that you, for the long term, we need to also think about the integration. And of course, because the housing prices are going up, the prices of fuel are going up, that you put stress on the citizens as well. It's a very important one to watch for the mid long term. Are there any questions from the room? I would like to thank you for your contribution. I think it's really strong what you're doing. Of course, this has happened, you've come into a role. You've seen it coming better than we have in the Netherlands, of course. So that's a big compliment to all of you. But you've acted on it. And I think you're building your way in the midterm strategy and making a long term strategy. And that it's really important because you are, of course, so close to the Ukraine with your cities that we, as people from the region, from this part of Europe, keep a very close eye on you and also listen very well to the points that you've mentioned today. So thank you very much for your contribution. Thank you for being here. And thank you very much. I would like to ask the next guest to the table please, Mr. Frank Praust, Michel Rochier, and Lydia Pereira. Well, thank you very much for the guests that we have here. The third panel session is about building a resilient, sustainable and energy independent cities. Because that is, of course, the challenge that we're facing now. Sustainability has always been an important part for us, for our group. But now it's even more stressful, of course, by the high energy prices and gas prices, which affects our region economically, but also the citizens. I would first like to introduce Mr. Frank Praust, he's president of the Nîmes Métropole, and has been very busy with the Green Deal. The area of Nîmes in France is very committed to the climate transition. And he's developed a territorial air energy climate plan. And he's, of course, holding the presidency of the Council for European Union. And the Green Deal is one of his key priorities. Welcome. Now the war in the Ukraine has created challenges for our cities and regions, and particularly in the energy security. And the Nîmes Métropole is very active in this. So could you please share with us, Mr. Praust, the plan that you have and the challenges and solutions that can be found at the European level? Yes, dear friend. It's a pleasure to be with you this morning. I'm sorry, but I go to speak in French because I want to use a right word. So if you can, for the translation. Yes, it is true that today we spoke about the consequences. I believe that this war makes us understand the urgency to speak about three fundamental issues, our energy, independence, and also food independence. It is true that the collective communities that we represent have this capacity to adapt and to react to these kind of situations. And so it's true that I have created a plan, a territorial energetic plan based on energy autonomy. I have two examples for this. I have created a factory that allowed me to produce biogas that is used for the buses in our city. Of course, in our region, our region is very sunny with more than 300 sun days. We have also used photovoltaic panels and we are going to produce green hydrogen in order to give our contribution for the environment. We can, through this strategy, create hydrogen and therefore we can use it for airplanes, for trucks, etc. And last point is the food independence. So we are working with the stakeholders in the agricultural sector. Also, we are working on school canteens so that there can be a proximity between production and consumption of this agricultural product with another challenge, which is paramount. That will be more and more difficult to manage, especially for the countries in the Mediterranean basin, which is the management of the water resources. And that is why in the framework of the Green Deal we can be efficient and include these kind of issues, like the water resources management, etc. You've not only done the sustainable part with the solar energy and the gas, the biogas, but you've also gone for the water resources. How did you play a role from the local and regional authorities? What is really important to set something like this up so that other people can do this in their region? I believe that the communities, and we have seen that during the pandemics, the local communities, more than governments, have these other station capacities and solutions must come from the base, from the bottom, from the local dimension in order to try and solve these issues. But we must also try to take some European decisions. And I will explain. Sometimes we see some natural catastrophes like floods, which are very serious for the communities. It's very difficult to try and build buildings in order to stop this. So we need European funds, European aids. And the idea, I was a member of the European Parliament, the idea is to cooperate, together with the European Commission, to see how the Green Deal, how we can reduce the road between the policy and the application of the policy. And sometimes the time between the two is three years. So the idea is to use the committee of the regions to see that when we need an urgent reaction, we can use a part of the budget of the Green Deal that can be used directly from the local communities. I believe that we don't use enough this structure of the committee of the regions that could be an interface between the European Union and the local community. I believe that if we want to be closer to Europe, we need efficacy, we need reactivity and visibility with the European policies that are too often. So we often don't understand that Europe must react rapidly. And when Europe helps us, we must say, and the best way to do it, is to show that Europe is capable to solve the problems in a very effective and fast way through the committee of the regions. Thank you very much for your contribution. It's always a challenge, of course, of getting the big European budgets and programs into the practical work, but I think you've shown some good examples. So thank you very much for that, for your contribution. I would like to move on to Lydia Pereira. She's president of YEP and very active in the discussions on climate change and was part of the European Parliament's official delegation to the United Nations for the Climate Change Conference. Lydia, when we face the consequences of the Russian war and the experience of Russian blackmail concerning energy supplies, we need to discuss how young politicians like yourself can defend democracy. Also, by speeding up the green transition that will lead to energy independence from Russian gas, oil and coal, and what is your vision towards the role of young Christian democratic politicians? Hello, good morning, and thank you very much to the committee of the regions, to VPP, for inviting me once again to take part in your dialogue and to address a few ideas for reflection that can be used also. And I think we use more things that are done at the local level, but I think it's also good that we have the possibility to exchange with more the local level, which is sometimes, I think, a bit neglected in the process of the decision-making in the European Union, even though in my role as MEP, I always take into great consideration the decisions and the political positions of the Committee of the Regions in the different topics that I cover in particular environment. I will start by the end of your question. The topic of environment is a Christian Democrat topic. It's caring about our planet. It's the pastor with its ships that takes care of the land. So this is our topic. This is conservatism is the ideology that has been addressing, since it's very beginning, the problematic of environment in the sense that caring, preserving. But somehow our societies, they became more complex due to the inclusion of topics that were not so much in the political agenda. Environment has been on the political agenda, but climate change 100 years ago was not. And now it is because now we are witnessing the power of climate change and seeing in towns and cities, the communities that some of climate change effects are no longer reversible. So they will stay in the long and medium term if we don't mitigate, but also if we don't adapt because this is another side of environmental policies. So this to say that environment as a whole is a conservative topic. It should be on the top of the political agenda, but somehow we lost it. We lost it to the socialists, to the Greens, to the Liberals. And we are now in a process to center right across Europe. We are a little bit at crossroads. And we have to understand where our voters went. Some of them went to more radical parties. Younger voters seem to be moving to green parties, liberal parties. And where are we in the political spectrum? And actually, when we discuss about the implications of climate change at the local level, it's about the mayors of towns that will have to develop plans to address climate change effects. So how do we combine all of this? That's why I'm talking about complexity. So I think we have the duty to reclaim environment as one of the main drivers in younger voters, but also to recognize the impacts on communities. Because so far, it seems like it's not, I mean, Green Deal has been changing. I don't like the term Green Deal, actually, but it's what we have and we have to use it. But what I think is that we can no longer kind of neglect that environment is one of the main priorities of our voters. So in relation to environment of energy transition, what I want also to add is the following. Environment and climate change did not have much public support if we look back 10 years ago, but it changed. And it was driven by the younger generation. And today we don't see anyone questioning climate change. Now what we are witnessing with the war in Ukraine is that we don't even have to accelerate our energy transition due to climate change, but also because of energy independence. So these are the two elements or two factors that should trigger a faster energy transition. And let me just conclude with the following. If we want to accelerate the transition, we cannot have planned projects, for example, the energy interconnections between the Iberian Peninsula and France kind of blocked until 2029. We have to unblock and harness the potential of the energy transition also in our independence from fossil fuels that come from third countries. Being the urge of you wanting to speed it up, like as part of how you're saying this should be on the top of the agenda. We've been losing it the past couple of years, but now we're all looking in the same direction. And this is the moment. And I see Mr. Proust nodding very enthusiastically. So I think that he's getting the message. And I'm hoping that a lot of you is getting the message as well, because I think this is really important that we're saying, well, sustainability should be on top. It should be on top of the list, just like the environment. And this is the way to get it back. Could you be more precise about if there's one step that you would like to take now with the people sitting here? What would that be? Well, I think I have the opportunity to meet with mayors, mostly from Portuguese towns, but also at the international level. And here is a good example. But I think when we develop a plan for a town, and if we want that plan to be successful, which this reasoning can be perfectly transposed for the decision-making process at the European level, we have to involve all the stakeholders. Because this is not, these political actions cannot be taken individually and not embrace all the stakeholders that are going to be affected by those. And these beat organizations, enterprises, communities, neighborhoods, and so on. So I think we often say that there's kind of a divorce in politics or between politicians and voters. But I think politicians have a duty or their in their role as politicians to kind of remarry with the, if there's a divorce, there's always a possibility for remarry with their voters and involve them in the decision. What I've been witnessing is that there's a lot of people that complain and say, oh, people don't care about this or that. No, it's not true. They care. They just want to be filled part of that in whatever decision we take. Thank you. So we have to make sure that people are connected again with us, with the politicians, something that's the most important part. Absolutely. Thank you. I would like to go to Michel Rochier. Michel Rochier is our professional party leader in South Holland. We come from the same district and even the same city. As part of South Holland, we have two major cities, Rotterdam and The Hague. And well, of course, Michel, would you like to tell me a little bit about the challenges that your region, our region actually faces due to the energy crisis? Yes. Well, welcome in Rotterdam, the city and part of the province of South of Holland, my region. And we're talking about our regions, our towns and how can we help each other? Welcome. And traditionally, we are here in the lowest part of Holland and actually the lowest part of Europe. That's why we have one of the biggest harbours here and transport so many goods. And we do struggle. We do struggle with the water and we're turning its force in a flexibility way to advance to keep our houses and farmlands dry by sophisticated irrigation and systems and make Rotterdam one of the biggest harbours of transports in Europe and produce food at large scale under greenhouses. And so it's struggling every year, every day. And Lydia also said that every new challenge is a collaboration of government companies and centers of scientific knowledge and young and matured workers work together here in this region. And earlier acquired knowledge and new out of the books creative minds of younger people, they help us out with problems with the struggles that we have. And the challenge that we face here caused by worldwide disruptions such as Brexit, COVID-19, the blockade of the Suez Channel and certainly not in the last place the devastating war in Ukraine that these are worldwide developments that having its impact in all parts of Europe and also here in this part. And we do face that but we hold on to each other. And if you look at the companies that we have in South Holland we're of course a big transport, we're big with flowers, food, produce, they all require energy. Have you got some examples of how they cope? Yeah, they do require energy. One of them is one of the biggest ports in Europe that transport coal and oil to other parts of Europe, which is very necessary of course and not only is there a struggle here on Rotterdam but Rotterdam also faced it all earlier and Lydia mentioned it that we had to take that path road to change our way to use energy and Rotterdam did that and Rotterdam is busy with that but the urge to sense raised of course because of the war and we do have the climate change but now we have another situation on our hands as well to speed up, we have to speed up and no no no no no no and we depending on the youngsters here among us to keep that train rolling really and you did a carbon-free campaign you did that very well thank you for that but it inspires us, it inspires us and all these new knowledges and universities, the high schools, these kids are helping us out with the problems that we have to deal. I mean in 62 someone said we're gonna put a man on the moon and but that's what we have to do here as well, we have to change the way we use our energy. We have to change the way that we use the energy and the gas and with the new energy of the young people. Of course that would help people like us. Yeah and if I mention another thing that here in Holland we do have of course not that much sun as you might notice but we do have wind and on the North Sea only this coming years we have 1200 wind turbines on the North Sea that's gonna help us with hydrogen energy the factories in the harbor have to change from all to that kind of source but also we have geometrical geothermal heating thank you very much and we do have that system here as well. Our greenhouses are a good example of that and one of the companies who are here on the market, Coppert Crest, they started already in 2010 to change and nowadays they don't have to use 1.8 million tons of gas anymore that's huge each year and they encourage other companies here in this part of Holland to heat up the greenhouses where they have huge food productions to use that kind of energy and that inspires us as well. That's a nice example so you're saying that the south of Holland is one of the biggest producers of food through greenhouses and one of the problems has always been the gas and the heating and they're tackling that right now so that they're very energy efficient which is good for the environment and of course good for the Ukrainian people indirectly. What a good thing is to mention and to point out that these companies are sharing their knowledge these companies these universities these high school they share what they develop they share what they invent they share it with the whole world so please join my trip to the marketplace where we can visit these companies who want to help us out who help us out in Europe help Ukraine as well. Well thank you very much are there any questions that you would like to to ask yes please is there someone with a microphone thank you thank you Wieske my name is Ryan Willems and former senator in the Netherlands I have a question to I think all three of you but first I'd like to thank Lili for the fact that she really raised an issue which is very important for the Christian Democrats that we have to get back to attending and spending time on the real issues that people are looking at and not leave that to other parties which we have done so far particularly in the Netherlands although I'm happy to see things changing in our country the question I have the all three of you is you're talking about energy and I'd like to be and food on the one on the other hand do you think there is it should be a time at the moment to reinstate a really European agricultural policy for food production that will and that's not to ensure that Ukraine is not going to be supplying anymore but that we can in fact replace Russia at certain at a certain stage in the world and become an exporter I think we could really develop a strong agriculture policy there again I know many countries are trying to get rid of agriculture policies but Europe is strong on this particularly in technology technological side as well I'd like to have your views on that secondly on the energy side I hear you talk about hydrogen green hydrogen sorry in in NIM what's the method of producing that are you doing that this wind energy what are the other ways of doing that could I give the floor to you please yes excellent comment I believe you have food research you also have the environment and also you have economy and when we talk about the environment and the new common agricultural policy we're talking about redefining the economy from A to Z I'll explain you have demographics you have evolutions at the level of the African continent amongst other continents if our agriculture if we modernize our agriculture with new trade we use satellites all the new technologies this will mean extra jobs new jobs so we have to focus on training and also Europe can be really at the center of the world can and concerning renewable energies we should not be naive here in Europe when we talk about manufacturing hydrogen 10 years ago when I was at the European parliament the five first companies were European companies I'm talking about manufacturing solar panels it's no longer the case today the five first leaders of the market are Chinese when we talk about reindustrializing we need to focus on these new trades meaning that's at the European level Erasmus we need to recreate training in line with these new trades we need to make sure that we're doing what it takes at the level of European continent we need to dot the i's cross the t's if you take talk about agriculture of tomorrow all these new trades we're talking about wealth moreover we're talking about jobs that will remain in Europe let's take advantage I would say of this change of behavior this awareness at a European level we need to look for new trades and we need to bring back our production pools in Europe we need to resolve the water problem water I repeat very important without water you have no agriculture and today for instance at the level of my territory there are natural catastrophes and water is there but we need to have water retention also of course thank you knowledge and also the production of energy and agriculture Misha would you like to respond keeping the knowledge here and and develop the knowledge here that's very important I think every European country faces that we don't have that much personnel anymore and it's to help us out with these developments to change this to a new kind of energy and but it's very very important that we use our students that we raise our students how to develop this and to help us out with this but you have to have your own knowledge here otherwise we're going to have a really good hard time yeah a good cooperation within the European Union of course with the Erasmus program yeah I think what is relevant to to take into consideration is that when we talk about strategic autonomy it also me or is extensible to the food sector but we have to do it in respecting the environment meaning that we cannot require that from our farmers more demanding rules than for the others from third that we import from third countries right so I think otherwise we are creating here there is no level playing field and this is a problem for European farmers so I would say that a common agricultural policy has to have as a central role or as a central pillar more correctly said the autonomy for food sector I think this is crucial and we are seeing that as time goes by and witnessing the challenges particularly reflected by the by the war and I would take on what was said and now by Michel about the knowledge and the know-how that we develop in Europe because we have now different technologies that allow the production of certain products that was not possible in the past so we have that as a tool as an instrument technologies that can harness the potential for food production that was not something credible by say 30 years ago for example and just one last note for the problem in relation to the climate and access to water if we look at the south of Europe is particularly affected by climate change according to the IPCC report is one of the regions that is supposed to be mostly affected and and so we need I refer that in the beginning we need adaptation not to be put as a you know the second thing to do it has to be a combined and integrated approach that involves also adaptation due to the fact without water it's more difficult as well for certain products to be to be to be produced and and and people need to have access to water so I would say that this is the main takeaway here is that strategic strategic autonomy also as a peeler of the common agriculture policy respecting the environmental standards that Europe negotiates with third countries when we have the when we signed trade deals but this is also has to be combined with with this pressing challenges that we have well thank you very much and I also hear you all say that we have to work together with the agriculture center and not talk about them so that's a big difference as well doing it and the narrative cannot be seen as against exactly when we had the strategy from farm to fork right and there was a bit of resistance but I think the potential of technology is not yet fully you know in the equation and we also have to represent and speak to our farmers but they also have to see that there's more to explore with the technology development and be ready to prepare because we know digitalization is gonna probably come we will we'll eventually take some jobs but we'll create many others in the sense of agriculture why is the same so we have to you know have this more positive addressing towards this specific topic which is agriculture but say in the way well we are not against we are with you we just have to boost ourselves exactly well thank you very much for this this conclusion I'd like to thank all the three of you for for coming here and sharing your story thank you very much I would like to ask Mr Apostolos Titovskos to the stage please thank you very much we'd like to stand here please Mr President under your strong leadership the European peeing committee of the regions together with all the mayors that we have the presidents the local councillors across the EU were very quick to respond to the Ukraine crisis for your number of initiatives that we had and you've shown solidarity compassion and a welcoming heart I'd like to thank you very much for that thank you thank you so much dear president Geblevich my good friend Olga dear miss Ihorovalutsenko thank you for taking the time to come here with us today dear colleagues ladies and gentlemen let me warmly thank first of all the Dutch delegation for the hospitality and in particular the cda for organizing the congress and hosting our side event today let me also thank all of you for your hard work over these last three months keeping vibrant our partnership with our colleagues in Ukraine I'm deeply moved by the mobilization and the decisiveness of local and regional authorities all throughout our union to stand with the Ukrainian people providing shelter and help to the refugees from Ukraine is not only a duty it is an investment for peace in our continent in Europe now for many years regions and cities at the borders of the European Union have called for solidarity and a common European policy for refugees today it is finally evident that the burden has to be shared that solidarity is the only solution that only united we can tackle challenges and solve problems we saw this during the past immigration crisis when many countries like mine Greece were left alone to deal with the migration crisis but these crises my dear friends are not an issue for one two or three countries that are right at the border this issue is a European issue and I'm really happy to see that under difficult times Europe learns from its mistakes and moves on and let me spell it out clearly it is thanks to the EPP family that our colleagues the mayors of Ukraine have found support during these turbulent times starting from the mayor of Kiev our good friend Klinchko members of our EPP family and now honorary member of our committee and I would really like to thank my dear colleagues in particular president Geblevic mayor Durkievic mayor Bok mayor Traskovsky president Wozniak president Linek for this amazing work they have done I visited these regions I visited these mayors and I saw what it means to be a leader on the ground in difficult times and I think all of I would like to thank all of our colleagues in the EPP group who in their regions in their cities they are providing to the Ukrainian people and families not just shelter but hope and let me further encourage all of us to use the tools we have put at our disposal for helping our Ukrainian friends such as the possibility of hosting accompanied miners for summer comes in Europe that mayor Klinchko asked for or by using the COR info support hub in order to match the needs and offers in providing shelter to the refugees or gathering and sending humanitarian aid whenever and wherever is needed now we saw during our last plenary in April how the mayors of Ukraine turned to us and through the European Committee of Regions they made their calls for help heard in the entire European Union but also beyond the group the EPP is making today difference at every level president Metzola European Parliament travel to Kiev as the first EU official meeting president Zelensky during the war the EPP is leading by example in these very very difficult times Manfred Weber and Donald Tusk are on the forefront fighting against the Kremlin's nationalism it is thanks to leaders of our political family that we have built a union of peace after years of war and destruction a union which has become a benchmark for peace stability and sustainable growth Russian nationalism has now triggered a new war in Europe we must offer all possible means to our Ukrainian friends who are fighting for our values for the values we share and they deserve a future in the European Union so I really wish that in June the Council will decide to accept to Ukraine Moldova and Georgia as candidate countries it is now the time to do that dear colleagues from the outset of the invasion the cities and regions have been the first to send humanitarian aid and welcome refugees without resorting to the right of veto without negotiations misunderstandings or understatements local and regional authorities have simply been active present and supportive since Mayden the committee of regions led by the EPP has paved the way for fruitful cooperation with Ukraine's young democracy at all levels of governance and Ukraine's recent decentralization process has enabled its neighbors and regional leaders to build up resilience indeed the crucial role of Ukrainian mayors during the war has shown how important has been the forging of direct links between authorities and the people mayors of Ukraine are today the pillars of resilience and they will be the pillars of reconstruction building on this decentralization process president Zelensky has asked EU regions and cities during the meeting we had a month ago to establish tweening agreements with our Ukrainian counterparts with a view to the reconstruction of infrastructure of villages and cities that were destroyed presidents Zelensky and Michelle have both asked the European committee of regions to provide expertise and know how in order to achieve this reconstruction process and last week a communication of the European Commission framed the way forward for reconstruction with a clear role for cities and regions via to peer to peer cooperation now in this context and following the example of the Cohesion Alliance together with the mayor of Kdansk I have proposed to build a new alliance a new alliance of cities and regions for the reconstruction of Ukraine from the bottom up the main European associations have already positively replied to our call and now I would like to call on you to be ready to put at the disposal of this alliance your know how contributing to the conferences that will follow on Ukraine's reconstruction we're really looking forward to our Ukrainian partners the know how of our respective regional and local administration and our best practices on spatial and urban planning we will be there during Ukraine's reconstruction and to this end a reconstruction facility must be created soon and we need to make sure that it will be directly accessible for European local and regional leaders whenever they needed however they needed Europe needs to be there our forthcoming June plenary will be indeed the occasion to make this important call together so my dear friends once again let me reiterate the very crucial and important role that local and regional leaders are playing on the ground not only facing the crisis with the war but at the same time fighting for the citizens for their everyday lives for giving them a better life I visited Kruznapoka last month Mayor Bok and I saw how at the same time that his administration is having to deal with the refugee crisis he and his administration is on top of every single problem so the priorities might have changed because of the crisis but our leaders the leaders of the EPP in municipalities villages cities or regions are there to fight for their citizens as well not stopping for one day the very important work that they have been doing and so again I congratulate you and I conclude by saying my dear colleagues that now is the time to join forces and work together to build the future of Ukraine in Europe from the bottom up just as we believe that the future of Europe should be built bottom up thank you very much thank you very much for your words well thank you all very much we come to an end but we have two things left on the agenda two smaller things we would like to take a family photo with all of us together but before we do that I would like to ask Mr Gibbich back please on stage and I would like to ask the delegates who have voting rights to stay in the room well maybe the family photo can be first yeah just figure out can we come up here for the family photo please so we'll do the family photo first sorry for the confusion