The Congress Connect is a database containing detailed and general information on all members of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
Maria Bigday
The Independent Liberal an Democratic Group (ILDG) of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe brings together 98 members. It is chaired by Marc Cools (Belgium).
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is responsible for strengthening local and regional democracy in its 46 member states. It brings together 612 elected officials representing more than 130 000 local and regional authorities and divided among several political groups.
written the 13/05/2024
Led by the liberal president Marc Cools, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities reaffirmed its unwavering support for the Ukrainian people and local communities.
A high-level delegation from the Congress was in Ukraine on 8-9 May 2024 to attend the Second International Summit of Cities and Regions in Kyiv. Marc Cools addressed the participants of the summit, among them the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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written the 15/03/2024
The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Marc Cools, has made the following statement:
“Ten years ago, on 16 March 2014, the illegal referendum in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, organised at Russian gunpoint, set off a spiral of violence leading to Crimea’s illegal annexation by Russia two days later and eventually to the Russian Federation’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine through which we are living today.”
“In 2014, ... Read more »
written the 01/03/2024
The next ILDG meeting will be held on Monday 25 March 2024 from 15.45 to 17.45 in room 6.
The group will prepare the upcoming Congress session and will renew the composition of its bureau.
written the 26/02/2024
“The so-called local elections organised in Belarus on 25 February 2024 are nothing but a sham. Without freedoms of speech, assembly and association, without genuine opposition and independent media, and in the absence of democratic standards guiding the electoral process, they cannot be considered as free and fair,” declared Marc Cools, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
He also expressed concern for the fate of the political prisoners held by the Lukashenka regime ... Read more »