The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Marc Cools, has made the following statement:
"On behalf of the Congress, I express my solidarity with the people and authorities of the département of Mayotte, France, hit by a devastating cyclone, worst in 90 years. My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the numerous victims of this terrible disaster.
"We follow closely the situation with the French delegation to the Congress, and will pursue our established co-operation with the French authorities at all levels to strengthen the resilience and preparedness of municipalities and regions in disaster management, in line with the approach promoted by the Congress in its Resolution 500(2024) and Recommendation 510(2024) on local and regional responses to natural disasters and climate hazards".
