Reconstruction of Ukraine begins in Lugano

The two-day conference was attended by over 1,000 people, including, in addition to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, five state and government leaders, 23 ministers and 16 deputy ministers. Switzerland was represented by President Cassis, Federal Councillor Sommaruga, National Council President Kälin and other parliamentarians. The 90-strong Ukrainian delegation was led by Prime Minister Shmyhal and Parliament Speaker Stefanchuk, as well as seven other ministers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was connected via video conference. A total of 58 international delegations (representatives of governments and international organisations) attended and supported Ukraine in launching the political process of recovery.

The event was certainly a major challenge for the City, for the security of the event, and for the organisation and logistics in and around the Lugano Conventions facilities.

In addition to the plenary sessions, there were numerous bilateral meetings between public institutions and the private sector, with the aim of establishing the first cooperative relations in view of the (hopefully) forthcoming reconstruction phase. At the end of the proceedings, the document establishing seven fundamental principles on which the reconstruction of the Ukrainian nation will be based (the so-called Lugano Protocol) was presented by President Cassis.

The Lugano conference was initially planned as the 5th Ukraine Reform Conference, an annual high-level political event, already hosted in London (2017), Copenhagen (2018), Toronto (2019) and Vilnius (2021). Against the backdrop of the ongoing Russian war, Switzerland and Ukraine jointly decided to go ahead with the organisation of the conference, renaming it the Ukraine Recovery Conference. A unique opportunity for representatives of the conflict-ridden country to share its recovery plan and engage with several international partners, both public and private.

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