International conference “Intensified Ukraine–NATO Cooperation: Challenges and Benefits of Accession to the Membership Action Plan”

October 17, 2006

An international conference called “Intensified Ukraine–NATO Cooperation: Challenges and Benefits of Accession to the Membership Action Plan” took place on 13 October 2006. This conference was organized by the International Centre for Policy Studies with the support of the NATO Information and Documentation Centre in Kyiv and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Ukraine.

During the conference, NATO Headquarters Press Officer Robert Pszczel, with the help of video conferencing, spoke about a public awareness campaign regarding the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization. At the conference, speeches were made and reports were presented by:

·    James Greene, Head, NATO Liaison Office (NLO) in Ukraine;

·    Anatoliy Hrytsenko, Minister of Defense, Ukraine;

·    Serhiy Dzherdzh, President, Demokratychna Diya [Democratic Action], an All-Ukrainian community organization;

·    Murnieks Martins, Secretary General, Latvian Transatlantic Organization (LATO), Latvia;

·    Borys Parakhonskiy, Vice-President, Center for International Security and Strategic Studies (CISSS), Ukraine;

·    Dr. Septimiu Caceu, Project Director, European Institute for Risk, Security and Communication Management (EURISC), Romania;

·    Mykola Sungurovskiy, acting Director, Military Programs, Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies (CEPS), Ukraine;

·    Viktor Chumak, Director, International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS), Ukraine;

·    Duncan Hiscock, security and defense expert, ICPS, Ukraine;

·    Dmytro Shulga, European Program Project Coordinator, International Renaissance Foundation (IRF), Ukraine.

Also in attendance were National Deputy Yuriy Miroshnychenko, US Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor, Military Attaché of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Ukraine and Moldova, Lieutenant Colonel W.P.M. van Heerebeek, and members of other embassies, international organizations, the Ukrainian Government, and policy centers.

During the conference, participants identified clear benefits of Ukraine’s accession to NATO’s Membership Action Plan. Defense Minister Hrytsenko noted that the MAP is a development roadmap for Ukraine. Specifically, the document explains how to build a normal, battle-worthy military that is as close as possible to modern requirements—an Army that would be a match both for contemporary threats and for the country’s financial resources. “There is no politicizing here. NATO’s Membership Action Plan is a plan of internal transformations. These are the specific arguments that must be used,” said Mr. Hrytsenko.

ICPS Director Viktor Chumak said that Ukraine’s implementation of NATO’s MAP could play an important role in both stimulating change and keeping it on track.

EURISC Project Director Dr. Septimiu Caceu and LATO Secretary General Murnieks Martins shared their experience in running public awareness campaigns in Romania and Lavtia. Among the factors that led to the success of their public awareness campaigns were Government financing and the active involvement of non-government organizations.

This conference is one of the mechanisms for defining problems and finding solutions to Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO. ICPS will continue to participate in drawing up agendas for future public debates, consultations and research into Ukraine’s national security needs and whether closer integration with NATO is the way to address these needs.

See also:
May 20, 2008		Learning and Exchange in Philanthropy
April 20, 2008		Two issues of the Local Governance Brief
December 17, 2007		Spain and Ukraine: Prospects for partnership
November 23, 2007		Vira Nanivska is among 100 most influential women in Ukraine
July 16, 2007		Roundtable “Lessons of Democracy: World Practice for Ukraine”
June 22, 2007		“Reforms, Business and Policy” poll presented and discussed
June 22, 2007		Second Phase of Political Reform Consultations begins

ICPS News

July 1, 2008 Consumer mood in a tailspin

May 20, 2008 Learning and Exchange in Philanthropy

News archive »»