Lexington, Chortkiv, Ukraine, Now Sister Cities
Lexington has stepped onto the stage of international cooperation.
On Tuesday, just a few days after City Council unanimously passed a resolution to pursue a sister city relationship with the city of Chortkiv in western Ukraine, Lexington Mayor Frank Friedman was joined by Chortkiv Mayor Volodymyr Shmatko for a ceremony in the county administration building to make the relationship official.
Both mayors signed copies of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – presented in both English and Ukrainian – which laid out the goals of the partnership between the two cities.
“It’s very important for this partnership to not only be ceremonial, but also actively cooperative for both cities, especially between our schools, between our kids [and] between our hospitals,” Shmatko told The News-Gazette after the ceremony. “I’m certain that Chortkiv and Lexington will change as time goes on, but it is important for the partnership to keep going forward.”
While most members of the Lexington City Council were able to attend the ceremony in-person, a zoom call was set up for those that could not be. Chortkiv’s city council also joined the call, holding a vote to establish the sister city relationship with Lexington and permitting Shmatko to sign the MOU. The vote was 17-0 in favor.
In addition to Lexington City Council members, Lexington City Manager Tom Carroll, County Administrator Spencer Suter, and sev- eral members of the local committee that worked to establish the sister city relationship between Lexington and Chortkiv were in attendance.
While being a sister city is a relatively new experience for Lexington, Chortkiv is no stranger to these kinds of partnerships, having already established a dozen such connections with cities in eight different countries – including four in Poland. Most of the other sister cities are in Europe, with the only exception being Whitehorse, the capital city of the Yukon territory in Canada.
Lexington – at lucky number 13 – holds a special distinction for Chortkiv as its first sister city in the United States. During his remarks prior to signing the MOU, Shmatko expressed his thanks to the United States for its support of Ukraine during the war with Russia, a sentiment he reiterated once the ceremony was complete.
“It’s very important that people in Ukraine understand that people in America see our struggles and keep supporting us,” he told The News-Gazette. “I thank the American people and the people of Lexington for all of the support they have provided and for all the support that the American government has provided in the past and has continued to provide.”
Chortkiv is located in the western part of Ukraine and is not currently being directly threatened by the fighting, but is nevertheless feeling the effects that the war is having on the country and its infrastructure. Russia has destroyed several power stations throughout the country and Chortkiv currently gets only about four hours of electricity per day.
The MOU signed by both mayors on Tuesday lists four primary areas of cooperation between the two cities, with cultural and historical exchange and promoting connections through the schools, universities and youth organizations being the first two. They also agree to exchange “best practices” regarding city management and public service, and connections between the two cities through tourism and civil society organizations. Beyond sharing established cultural and governmental practices, the MOU also calls for the two cities to develop joint projects and initiatives “in areas of mutual interest.”
Friedman told The News-Gazette that the relationship between Lexington and Chortkiv means a “great awareness of the importance of the rest of the world” for both cities.
“I frequently refer to Lexington as the center of the universe somewhat jokingly, but I feel like wherever I go there’s some sort of connectivity to Lexington, and this certainly just expands our connectivity to the world,” he told The News-Gazette. “I hope that, with the efforts led by this citizen group, that we can bring some brighter days and joy and connectivity with Chortkiv.
“It’s always fun to go visit your relatives, and now we have relatives in Ukraine,” he added. “Once the war has calmed down a bit and it’s safer to travel [to Ukraine], I encourage people to make that a destination.”
Both mayors emphasized the benefits the sister city relationship could have for the education of students in both communities. Shmatko arrived in Lexington on Sunday and on Monday was able to visit Rockbridge County High School and meet some of the students there. He said that the high school was “awesome,” and noted that “education is the future.”
“I was really excited that [Shmatko] made the time to go [visit] our high school and meet several of our students and see the facilities, because it can become very aspiriational for another community to see something like that and know that’s a reality that can be accomplished, even in a small town in the United States,” Friedman said. “[Our] students have never met a mayor from Ukraine, so the opportunity to meet him, I think, opens their ideas and their minds to the opportunities. They may not have ever had a desire to go to that part of the world, but they may want to see or learn more about it.”
Some cultural exchange began immediately following the signing of the MOU as both mayors distributed gifts they had brought to mark the occasion.
Shmatko presented Friedman with a photograph of Chortkiv’s old town hall, a historic 19th century building located in the city center, as well as a box of Ukrainian chocolate. He also presented the city with Chortkiv’s city flag, which depicts a white castle with a red roof over a white heraldic rose with a yellow core and yellow leaves. He also gave gifts specifically to Friedman, Carroll and Suter.
In return, Friedman gave Shmatko a pair of locally made vases, which Shmatko said would be placed on display in Chortkiv’s city hall along with gifts from Chortkiv’s other sister cities.
Following the gift exchange, Chortkiv City Council adjourned their meeting, closing it by singing the Ukrainian national anthem, which is customary.
