The mayor of Kyiv could come to Quebec in September on the occasion of the congress of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC), while the organization is still juggling the thorny question of the presence of Russian mayors.
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Vitali Klitschko, a former world heavyweight champion, is seriously considering coming to the capital, despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we learned Thursday, during a press briefing to confirm the holding of the 16e world congress of the organization whose head office is in Quebec.
About 250 delegates – including many mayors and elected officials – from different cities around the world are expected for this event at the Center des congrès de Québec, from September 6 to 9. The event will mark the “relaunch of major international meetings in Quebec”, after more than 2 years of pandemic, we are delighted.
“There are two Ukrainian cities that should be there. Lviv and Kyïv (which has just been welcomed as a member), ”said the mayor of Quebec Bruno Marchand. “For now, (the mayor of Kyiv) has an interest. He alone will be able to determine in time and place whether it will be relevant to come here, but there is an interest,” he added.
What will the Russians do?
However, two Russian cities – Saint-Petersburg and Kazan – are also members in good standing of the OWHC. Registrations for the congress have been launched but for the moment, we do not know their intentions.
“We have no news. Currently, our Russian member cities have taken a very low profile position. There is no provocation (…) But let’s be realistic, they will not be welcome, neither now nor in September, so the best thing would be for them to understand it themselves and not try not to register”, declared the secretary general of the OWHC, Mikhael de Thyse.
“Let’s wait to see where we will be and let’s also wait to see what the demands of the Ukrainian delegations will be. It is a very sensitive issue,” acknowledged the mayor of Quebec. “It is still early to decide on that and for the rest, the general secretary and the assembly will make decisions at that time.”
No government interference
Present at the press briefing to announce a government contribution of $140,000 for the holding of the convention, the Minister of International Relations, Nadine Girault, has no intention of getting involved.
“It is obvious that we will not interfere in international politics like that. If they want to come and visit, we’ll see how we react at that time. We will not interfere, especially with a non-governmental organization like the OWHC,” she commented.