The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will hold its 45th Session from 24 to 26 October 2023, in Strasbourg, France. The election of the new President of the Congress, as well as of the Presidents of Congress’ Chambers and their vice-presidents will take place.

The role of local and regional authorities in ensuring accountability in the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine is on the agenda with a debate on the International Register of Damage. The situation of political activists under pressure in Russia will also be discussed.

Monitoring reports on the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Estonia, Ireland and the Slovak Republic are on the agenda of the session. The Congress members will also examine reports on the observation of local elections in Albania that took place on 14 May 2023 and the elections to the Council of Elders of the City of Yerevan, Armenia,  on 17 September 2023. In addition, resolutions on the themes “Delivering on the Reykjavik summit: revised Congress priorities, working procedures and structures” and  “European Urban Charter III (2023): Urban living in the era of transformations” will be debated and voted on.

 “Violence against local and regional elected representatives”, “The role of regions in energy transition”, “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: regional experience and lessons learned”, “Local and regional media: watchdogs of democracy, guardians of community cohesion” are the themes of the reports that will also be discussed at the session.

Among the invited guests are the Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development on behalf of the Latvian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, Inga Berzina; Minister of State with Responsibility for Local Government and Planning, Ireland, Kieran O’Donnell; Minister of Regional Affairs and Agriculture of Estonia Madis Kallas; Executive Lead, Local News Partnerships, BBC, Matthew Barraclough ; Secretary General of the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), Antonella Valmorbida.

More here.