On August 25, 2022, within the framework of the
Eurooppa-foorumi European Forum, with the assistance of the Embassy of Ukraine in Finland, a solemn signing ceremony of the Agreement on the establishment of twinning relations between Kharkiv and the Finnish city of Turku took place. The document was signed by the mayor of Turku, Mina Arve, and the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, who joined the ceremony online.
This is the first agreement between municipalities signed since the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the russian Federation. The event aroused considerable interest among Finnish municipalities and interest in finding partner cities in Ukraine.
Speaking at the event, Ambassador of Ukraine to Finland
Ольга Діброва noted that the establishment of sisterly ties between Kharkiv and Turku became an important symbol of the support of Ukrainians by the Finnish people, and also emphasized the importance of establishing direct people-to-people contacts for the development of cooperation between the states. The ambassador expressed confidence that the signing of the agreement will be the beginning of a wide range of cooperation, which will cover educational institutions, business and many other areas.