York set to adopt Lviv as sister city in show of support for Ukraine
It's as Ukraine continues to come under heavy attack from Russia.
York is set to adopt Lviv as a sister city in a show of solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
It's as Ukraine continues to come under heavy attack from Russia.
The mayor of Lviv visited York in November to discuss shared cultural, economic and local government links.
In a motion titled York stands with Ukraine, Liberal Democrat Coun Darryl Smalley will ask councillors if they want to start the process of becoming a sister city.
There have already been several symbolic displays of support for Ukraine across York, including lighting the city in blue and yellow, flying the Ukrainian flag and the organising of support rallies.
Since its creation in 1956, Sister Cities International has worked to create global relationships based on cultural, educational, information and trade exchanges, leading to “lifelong friendships that provide prosperity and peace through person-to-person citizen diplomacy.”
York has twin and sister city relationships with Dijon, in France, the German city of Munster and Nanjing in China, as well as a ‘temporal twinning’ with the tenth century Viking settlement of Jorvik, the foundation upon which the modern city is built.
An official twinning with Lviv was not considered appropriate currently as the process takes more time and work than creating a sister city relationship.
Executive member for culture, leisure and communities Coun Smalley’s motion reads: “York stands with Ukraine and its people in their fight to maintain democracy and self-determination as a nation, those affected locally with relatives caught up in the hostilities having to escape the war, and with those Russians who are not responsible for this war, many of whom bravely speak out against it.”
The motion is one of several to be debated at Thursday’s meeting of Full Council.