Minutes:
Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE (Leader of the Council) remined Members of the Council that since 1956 there had been links between the mining town of Barnsley and the mining town of Gorlovka in Donbas region of south eastern Ukraine. Those links had been further strengthened in 1987 when a formal twinning arrangement had been agreed. Those links had developed over many years with support from the European Union and the Council was proud to have had friends in that part of the world who had come to Barnsley and indeed many Members from the Council had also made similar visits to Gorlovka.
Unfortunately, 8 years ago a civil war had broken out in the east of the country and the links since that time had been no more. Today, very sadly, the state of Russia under Vladimir Putin had launched a full scale invasion not just of the Donbas region but of Ukraine as a whole.
His sympathy went out to the people of Gorlovka as it was the innocent, the men women and children who were not involved in the armed forces or the armed conflict who would be the biggest victims of everything that was happening today. He, therefore, sent his good wishes (if those were the right words to say) to those people and he hoped they would come through this incredibly difficult time. He condemned the actions of Russia and Vladimir Putin in doing what they were doing as there was no justification for this whatsoever and he trusted that the western allies could find ways and means of freeing the people of Ukraine from this oppression. He also hoped that our friends and colleagues in Gorlovka could once again enjoy the freedom that they deserved away from tyranny and terror and that at some point in the future such friendships could be restored.
It was an incredibly difficult time and anything that was thought to be difficult in this country, paled into significance, when compared to what the people of the Ukraine were now having to endure.
In concluding, he thanked the Mayor for allowing him to address the Council. His heart went out to the people of the Ukraine and particularly to the people of the twin town Gorlovka and he hoped that one day this matter could be resolved and the freedoms and democracy of the Ukrainian state could be reinstated as they should be.
Many other Members echoed the Leaders comments when addressing the Council on the following budget item.