Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that political pressure on the city’s local self-government from the central authorities is intensifying. He claims that law enforcement agencies are being used to persecute deputies and officials of the Kyiv City Council.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that political pressure on representatives of the capital’s local self-government continues, as stated in his public address. According to him, deputies of the Kyiv City Council from factions opposed to the central government, as well as members of the executive body, are facing persecution and numerous interrogations in what he describes as “fabricated cases.” He noted that public accusations are being made but later not proven in court, damaging reputations and hindering officials from performing their duties.
Klitschko believes these actions have a clear political purpose — to force deputies into loyalty and push them to support decisions “imposed from above” by representatives of the central government. He said there are ongoing attempts to undermine local self-government and long-standing efforts to make the Kyiv City Council “controlled,” which, in his view, disregards the choice of Kyiv residents and their right to elect their own city authorities rather than accept figures “sent from above.”
The mayor emphasized that such actions are especially cynical during wartime, when Ukrainians must be united in defending their state. He urged law enforcement agencies to act strictly within the legal framework and not comply with the “political whims” of the central authorities. Klitschko also called on those who, in his words, undermine local self-government, not to destroy the state from within and to set aside political interests for the sake of democratic values and preserving independence.
“Ukrainians will not allow the establishment of authoritarianism,” Klitschko said.