Poland offers Ukraine to share experience of power decentralization

Poland can share experience of decentralization of power and development of regional self-government with Ukraine, director of International Cooperation and International Projects Department Bartlomiej Ostrovsky said during the meeting of the Polish-Ukrainian press club, ForUm correspondent reports.

According to him, an important element of this cooperation is the exchange of experience in the development of self-government, in which Poland has achieved great success.

"Ukraine is our neighbor and strategic partner, and we, as the country on the outer edge, feel responsibility ... Today we have not such enthusiastic look at Ukraine as before, but more realistic. It is important that concrete steps are taken to move closer to the EU," he said and added that on the way to transformation Poland can share experiences in decentralization and development of local, regional self-government with Ukraine.

 

"The cooperation should be mutually beneficial and we should not think we are going to teach, we need to look for topics of interest to both sides, look for the unique point of contact," Ostrovsky said.

According to him, a notable example is the nearly ten-year collaboration of Lower Silesia - a region located in the south-western part of Poland, bordering the Czech Republic and Germany, with Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Donetsk regions.

According to Ostrovsky, another point of interest for cooperation in scientific, historical and tourist industries - fortress Kodak in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which had been the most eastern fortifications of the Rzeczpospolita.

 

He also mentioned that Ukrainian Hetman Pylyp Orlyk lived in Wroclaw for some time and Poland is thinking on how to develop this topic in the historical and tourism aspect.

"In addition, the ALDA network office is to be opened in Dnepropetrovsk to attract European projects in Ukraine. Funding these projects mainly comes from the regional budgets of Lower Silesia. Most of the projects are historical, cultural and touristic ones," he said.