On 29 June 2026, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) held a seminar on democratic preparedness at local and regional level.

The seminar featured a panel discussion on building democratic resilience, opened by brief remarks from each participant. Alongside Ambassador Oleksiy Gavrysh, the panel included Congress Vice-President Konstantinos Koukas, Congress youth delegate from the Republic of Moldova Ana-Maria Botnarescu, Member of the Storting Jonas Andersen Sayed, and Professor Carl Henrik Knutsen of the University of Oslo.

In his remarks, Ambassador Gavrysh drew on Ukraine's firsthand experience of resisting full-scale war to outline lessons he believes are relevant for other democracies preparing for crisis. He stressed that a trained citizen with a clearly defined role is far more effective in an emergency.

Preparedness, he argued, depends on practical exercises rather than written guidance alone, and the habit of readiness must be built into society long before a crisis becomes urgent - because once it is urgent, it is already too late. Regional and local authorities, he added, carry particular responsibility in this effort.

Oleksiy Gavrysh further noted that a resilient, cohesive society is the true foundation for withstanding hardship of any kind, not only war, and expressed confidence that combining Norwegian and Ukrainian experience could help build stronger, better-prepared communities on both sides.

The Ambassador concluded by thanking Norway for its steadfast support of Ukraine, reaffirming that Ukraine stands shoulder to shoulder with its partners, just as they have stood with Ukraine.