Ukrainian
Students Visit NATO
A group of Ukrainian students and teachers
made an exceptional visit to NATO on
6-7 November, where they met Lord Robertson
and participated in a crisis simulation
seminar. The students from the special
English language School # 155 were personally
invited by Lord Robertson during his
visit to Ukraine in March 2000.
At
NATO headquarters the students had
an opportunity to test their diplomatic
and crisis-response skills. Assuming
the roles of NATO ambassadors, they
faced a hypothetical, international
crisis and were asked to achieve consensus
on how to approach the situation.
In the simulated scenario, members
of an ethnic minority were being killed
or driven out of their homes. The
students therefore faced the same
difficult choices that NATO leaders
have had to make. This included deciding
whether imposing economic sanctions
would help ease the crisis and at
what stage diplomatic means of negotiating
a settlement had been exhausted.
The
students met with Lord Robertson in
his Private Office - an honour usually
reserved for international dignitaries
- and were able to talk to the Secretary
General and ask him questions.
During the second day of their visit,
the Kyiv students visited NATO´s
strategic command in Mons where they
learned about NATO's military side.
On their way back to Brussels, the
young Ukrainians saw the battlefield
of Waterloo as well as battlefields
and military graveyards of the First
World War.
According to school 155's principal,
who accompanied the group: "The
level of understanding between NATO
and Ukraine is attested to by the
fact that Ukrainians entrust their
younger generation to NATO."
See
also:
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