Valetta, 13 May 2026
"Local authorities act as democratic "first responders" capable of addressing citizens' concerns and delivering concrete solutions at community level," underlined First Vice-President of the Congress Konstantinos Koukas (Greece, EPP/CCE) in his opening address at the General Assembly of the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), on 13 May 2026 in Valetta, Malta.
Highlighting the key role of local and regional authorities in strengthening democratic resilience across Europe, he stressed the importance of the Council of Europe's New Democratic Pact for Europe as a collective effort to renew trust in democratic institutions and reinforce democratic governance. "Democracy must be continuously renewed through citizen participation, good governance, multilevel cooperation and innovation, starting at the local level," he said.
Vice-President Koukas further pointed to the growing challenges to democracy such as declining citizens' trust, polarisation and misinformation, and underlined the need for democratic innovation, including through digital tools, while ensuring that technological developments remain aligned with democratic values.
