Mayor of the City of Brussels Philippe Close was in Kyiv on Wednesday and Thursday at the invitation of the Ukrainian capital's mayor and former Boxing world champion Vitali Klitshko, to mark Europe Day.
Arriving at midday on Wednesday after an 18-hour train journey from Warsaw, Close addressed the city council of the Ukrainian capital. "My place was not next to the Commission and the European Parliament, it is next to those who are fighting here for Europe," Close told Kyiv councillors.
On Thursday, he visited a division of the Ukrainian Army made up mainly of residents of Kyiv, who were resting for a few days before returning to the front.
"Among them, former municipal councillors and deputy mayors who decided to defend their country and whose lives were turned upside down," Close said on social media. "I was particularly touched by one of them, who had both legs amputated following a mine explosion and decided to stay with his unit."
He also reaffirmed the support given by the Brussels Saint-Pierre Hospital, which continues to invest in equipment allowing the rehabilitation of people injured by war.
The hospital has sent delegations to Kyiv, while also receiving a Ukrainian delegation from the Kyiv VI Clinical Hospital and the Kyiv City Clinical Hospital for Veterans, to show them first-hand the rehabilitation techniques for heavy musculoskeletal surgery.
Close said that on Europe Day, "it is among these soldiers that European identity resonates the most." During the visit, Kyiv mayor Klitshko on Wednesday about the significance of Europe Day for Ukraine.
"We Ukrainians are fighting for the right to be part of the great European family. Geographically and historically, we are Europeans. We need European rules and standards of living. We are fighting for that," he told Le Soir.
Klitshko described welcoming the mayor of Brussels, the capital of Europe, for Europe Day as "something special".
"We're delighted to see him because his city has been a great help to us since his first visit to Ukraine. It's an important signal for Europe and shows that we're not alone. It's also a signal to the Russian Federation that together we are stronger," he continued.
The mayor of Brussels enjoys a good relationship with Kyiv's mayor since May 2022 and the arrival of the first (medical) aid from the Brussels municipality.
The municipal council also voted against ending the twinned-city relationship with Moscow after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, with mayor saying the link is purely symbolic.
In another related development, the Mayor of Ghent, Mathias De Clercq, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday. As the Vice-President of Europe's largest network of cities, Eurocities, De Clercq participated in the summit held on the 8th and 9th of May.
