3 July 2014

Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Chisinau Declaration

The Monitoring Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, meeting on 3 July in Chisinau, in the Republic of Moldova, expressed its profound concern at the situation in the countries of the region faced with dangerous separatist tensions following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. This annexation has unfortunately opened the way to regional destabilisation which threatens the territorial integrity of states.

The Congress, which defends local and regional government all over Europe through implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, is convinced that this self-government should serve democratic values and promote respect for difference and diversity in our countries. But local and regional self-government cannot truly develop unless our countries are stable and our societies are at peace: the dramatic explosion of violence in Ukraine caused by unidentified armed groups is diametrically opposed to the kind of Europe we are building.

The Monitoring Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe calls on the Bureau of the Congress to closely follow political developments in the countries of the region, to organise a wide-ranging exchange of views on these questions at its 27th Session in October 2014 and, on that occasion, to formally adopt a declaration reflecting these concerns and the unwavering commitment of the Congress to local and regional self-government respecting the sovereignty of states, their territorial integrity and the inviolability of their borders.