Maramures County will be part of the 'Regional Alliance for the Reconstruction of Ukraine' alongside other counties from Romania's North-West and North-East regions, announced President of the Maramures County Council Gabriel Zetea on Wednesday.
'Together with my colleagues from the Maramures County Council, we voted for our county to be part of the 'Regional Alliance for the Reconstruction of Ukraine' (...). I received the mandate to sign this cooperation agreement, which lays the foundation for real and concrete collaboration in support of Ukraine's reconstruction, an initiative aimed at infrastructure development, attracting investments, creating logistics hubs and facilitating European integration. It is a gesture of solidarity, but also a strategic step that could bring major economic benefits to Maramures and the entire region. I firmly believe the future is built through collaboration, empathy and shared vision,' said Gabriel Zetea.
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, local authorities, NGOs, religious institutions and professional associations from the local economy have been heavily involved in supporting war refugees by providing humanitarian, medical and material aid.
In addition, Salvamont Maramures, a division of the County Council, has worked effectively with the Border Police in Sighetu Marmatiei to recover Ukrainian citizens in the mountain areas who cross into Romania via the Maramures Mountains to avoid conscription and being sent to the front.
Maramures County Council has also had a long-standing cultural support relationship with the over 400,000 ethnic Romanians living in Ukraine, most of them in border localities between the two countries.
The County Council is currently building a second road bridge over the Tisa River between Romania and Ukraine, an investment expected to be operational in the near future.
The connection between Maramures and Ukraine also includes a broad-gauge railway, built in the late 1950s. However, after the start of the war, passenger rail traffic through the border checkpoints at Valea Viseului and Campulung la Tisa was suspended.
Access to and from Ukraine through northwestern Romania is currently possible through the Sighet (Maramures) and Halmeu (Satu Mare) border crossing points.
To support the Romanian community in Ukraine, the Sighet public radio station was established, part of the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation. The station broadcasts programmes for Romanians in Ukraine as well as for residents in the Maramures area.
In the border town of Solotvyno, Ukraine, the Romanian Consulate operates, providing services to both Romanian and Ukrainian citizens. AGERPRES