Kyiv hosts First Euro-Atlantic Partnership Day in Ukraine
On 14 July 2011, the Diplomatic Academy under Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry hosted the First Euro-Atlantic Partnership Day, marking 20 years of NATO-Ukraine cooperation.
Relations between NATO and Ukraine “have become an integral part of the Euro-Atlantic security system,” said Borys Zakharchuk, Acting Director of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s Department of Euro-Atlantic Cooperation and New Challenges. “Their further development and strengthening continue to be an important element of Ukraine’s security policy.”
“In the second part of the year Ukraine intends to join NATO efforts in training the Afghan security forces,” said Mr Zakharchuk, highlighting examples of NATO-Ukraine practical cooperation. Ukraine is also looking into possibilities of participating in NATO’s anti-piracy operation and is preparing projects for the extraction and burial of radioactive waste in Ukraine, he added. According to Zakharchuk, Ukraine currently ranks second in terms of the number of projects underway under the NATO Partnership for Peace and Security Programme.
During a roundtable discussion looking at achievements and prospects after 20 years of partnership, the participants discussed via video link with Ambassador Ihor Dolhov, Head of the Ukrainian Mission to NATO, and listened to a video address by Ambassador Dirk Brengelmann, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General on Political Affairs and Security Policy.
Ambassador Dolhov drew attention to the practical results of NATO-Ukraine cooperation, which “have had a direct impact on the security of each and every Ukrainian citizen”. He expressed hope that Euro-Atlantic Partnership Day will become an annual event to raise awareness on NATO in Ukraine and offer a platform for generating new ideas on the development of cooperation between Ukraine and the Alliance.
Ambassador Brengelmann stressed the significance of practical cooperation. “Given the usefulness of Ukraine’s contributions to NATO’s operations, we naturally look forward to even greater cooperation in this area, which is of benefit to both sides,” he said. “Over the past two decades, Ukraine has used its independence to transform and develop into an influential foreign and security policy actor, both in this region and well beyond.”
He said that NATO fully respects the decision of the Ukrainian government not to join any military alliance. “We have said it before, and it bears repeating, because we recognise the sovereign right of each nation to freely choose its security arrangements.”
The public event was initiated by the NATO-Ukraine Civic League and supported by the NATO Information and Documentation Centre in Ukraine and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry within the framework of the Annual National Programme (ANP) 2011. It attracted broad participation, including participants from NATO countries, students, Ukrainian government representatives and non-governmental organizations.
The official ceremony was complimented by photo exhibits, films, information stands and interactive displays, as well as a fashion show of the Euro-Atlantic collection by Ukrainian designer Olena Dats’ together with the Institute of the World Policy.