ST. PETERSBURG, Governor of the Leningrad Region Alexander Drozdenko has been elected vice president of the Chamber of Regions of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRA).

“We have numerous good examples of both economic and cultural cooperation. We also successfully exchange best practices on developing local self-government. My new position will provide additional opportunities for positive and equitable cooperation with European states,” Drozdenko said.

Drozdenko was nominated by the European People’s Party/Christian Democrats (EPP/CD) group in recognition of the Leningrad Region leading the Russian Federation in international and cross-border cooperation with partners from EU countries.

As vice president, Drozdenko will join the CLRA Bureau, which comprises the president and Bureau members from both CLRA chambers (each has a president and seven vice presidents). The Bureau prepares proposals on general policies, the budget, and local and regional monitoring missions, as well as observer missions at local elections. It is behind the CLRA’s continuous operation.

Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko was included in the Russian Federation delegation as a representative to the CLRA Chamber of Regions for 2016 to 2020 by the presidential directive of July 21, 2016. On November 5, 2018, he was unanimously elected head of the Russian delegation to the CLRA by the delegation. Strasbourg, France, is hosting the 35th Plenary Session of the CLRA from 6 to 8 November.

The CLRA consists of 324 representatives and 324 substitutes, who represent over 200,000 local and regional authorities from 47 member-states of the Council of Europe (CE). By its status, the Congress is a consultative body and one of the three main CE divisions. Its priorities are monitoring the state of local and regional democracy in the CE countries for compliance with the 1985 European Charter of Local Self-Government, including human rights at the local level, and observing local and regional elections.