NEWSLETTER of
NATO – UKRAINE PARTNERSHIP NETWORK

[# 5]

THE ACTIVITY OF NATO – UKRAINE PARTNERSHIP NETWORK

The third Academy of NATO

Ukraine and Denmark have combined their joint efforts for the sake of future success in direction of Euro – Atlantic integration anew. The third Academy of NATO headlined "NATO – Alliance of values and solidarity" took place in Litki village on the base of "Metro" on 27-28-29 of April, 2009. The Academy traditionally assembled the most active representatives of Ukrainian state structures and civic organizations who are working on further spreading the information on euroatlantic security in Ukrainian society, those are: public officials, state and regional administration representatives, representatives of state security and defence sector, Navy Forces of Ukraine in particular, Defence forces of Ukraine, representatives of civic organizations in Ukraine and students. Ukraine – NATO Civic League, Atlantic Council of Ukraine jointly with Danish Atlantic Treaty Association from Denmark and  Slovak Embassy in Ukraine came out as an organizers of this event. The head of Danish Atlantic Treaty Association - Troels Froling and his Assistant - Ivan Andresen have already paid visits to Ukraine. The participants of the Academy were listening to the public speeches of Mr. Jaroslav Bashta, an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Czech Republic in Ukraine, Petra Novotna - military attaché from Embassy of Czech Republic in Ukraine, Mrs. Katarina Kovacheva – counsellor, assistant of extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Slovak Republic in Ukraine with a great pleasure. The hearers of the Academy have organized an active discussion with Volodymyr Korjak, Vadym Hrechaninov, Oleh Kokoshynskyi, Volodymyr Furashev, and Serhiy Dzherdzh – the leading experts in the sphere of Euroatlantic integration. Representatives from state structures, the Ukrainian Ministry for Foreign Affairs – Anna Kozjarska in particular as well as representatives from State Committee for television and broadcasting of Ukraine – Svitlana Li, have made public speeches and reports on issues of Ukrainian Euro Atlantic integration within 2008 – 2011. Members of the Academy have also started working out a Public strategy for Ukraine’s integration contribution into the NATO structures, in which new approaches for the work of civic organizations in this sphere were offered. The authors of the Strategy have suggested extending the collaboration with Ukraine’s analytical centers aiming to support further Ukraine’s progressing towards NATO.

According to the materials of Ukraine’s expert community in consultation with external experts through joint working group

Improve approaches and introduce practical mechanisms for developing and implementing ANPs. The content of ANPs must concentrate on achieving concrete results.

Successful implementation of ANPs is possible under following conditions:

  • Clear regulation of tasks, division of responsibilities, and interaction between the National Security and Defence Council, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Parliament;
  • Creation of permanent inter-agency working groups on ANP issues that meet at the level of deputy ministers and (most frequently) department heads;
  • Existence of effective monitoring mechanisms, including public oversight;
  • Active use of NATO-Ukraine consultation mechanisms, particularly at expert level;
  • Ensure linkage between ANPs and other strategic planning documents, such as the National Security Strategy and the Programs Government. Seek political consensus on NATO-Ukraine cooperation.
  • Initiating a wide public discussion focused on security and defence policy based on Euro-Atlantic principles and the solidarity of the democratic community, independent of the official membership status;
  • In light of the realistic timeframes for Ukraine’s accession to NATO under modern economic and political conditions, it could be helpful to develop a political compromise that ensures proper implementation of ANP actions, while removing NATO issue from the presidential campaign, through a politically-agreed moratorium postponing through 2014 any referendum on Ukraine’s accession to NATO or accession to NATO itself.

Today, the main tasks of non-governmental sector are to:

  • Encourage broad public discussion to raise awareness of the Ukrainian electorate regarding the importance of national security policy in the pre-election programs of political parties and political leaders;
  • Increase the capabilities of local civil organizations and support events that engage the civil society in developing and implementing policy on local (human) security issues;
  • Provide expert support for state institutions in developing, implementing, and assessing national security policy;
  • Help the public better understand their interests and assess the results of actions by state institutions and political representatives in terms of their impact on these interests.
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