ECR Member from Lithuania Ms Zinaida Tresnickaja (Deputy Mayor of Visaginas municipality) participated in the 2018 edition of Forum on Local Democracy, which took place in Armenia. The discussions, gathering local politicians from both the EU and Eastern Partnership countries, focused on decentralisation and local economic development.

The Forum brought together a high number of mayors, councillors, local government associations, as well as representatives of the national government. Ms Tresnickaja spoke on evaluating the impact of division of powers on economic development of the regions. She underlined that in order to be efficient, local authorities need to not only have the powers to exercise them, but also be equipped with financial means to implement them.

The ECR Member has also highlighted that of key importance to local and regional government are good relations with central government which can help address specific territorial economic difficulties and create more equal conditions for sustainable development of all regions.