Interview

1.       What are you celebrating today?

Today we celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the Science for Peace and Security Programme (SPS). Taking this opportunity, I would like to pass my sincere congratulations to Assistant Secretary General Missiroli and the SPS team. 

For Ukraine this Programme is not merely a useful means of bringing together experts to enhance security and progress. Ukraine recognizes SPS as a true and devoted friend, which has supported Ukrainian scientists for more than 20 years. We see SPS as a valuable platform for Ukraine-NATO practical cooperation. It facilitates effective scientific research, technological innovation and knowledge exchange between NATO member states and partner nations. My vision is that today SPS remains one of the largest and most important partnership programme of relevance to address our 21st century security challenges.

2.       How does SPS cooperation relate to the war in eastern Ukraine?

We have a long and glorious history when it comes to Ukraine-NATO cooperation within the SPS Programme. SPS cooperation with Ukraine started long before Russia waged war in eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea illegally.

SPS has supported research and development projects in Ukraine even when the former leadership of my country tried to neglect any kind of NATO presence in Ukraine, and when there was very little financial support provided to Ukrainian scientific and research institutions. Ukraine appreciates this opportunity to work jointly with NATO nations on SPS projects, which are of mutual benefit to our societies.

2014 will forever be a turning point for Ukraine as a State and for Ukrainians. Of course, this also had a huge impact on our relations with NATO. Armed aggression has united us as a Nation and brought us to declare as our strategic goal: Ukraine’s full membership in the Alliance.  

I would like to emphasize that from the very beginning of the war SPS offered Ukraine tremendous support. The majority of the projects launched in 2014-15 focused on the development of Ukraine’s security and defence sector, and build capacity. We strive to retain this focus.

Let me mention here our most important joint initiatives and SPS key flagship projects:

• The SPS Humanitarian Demining project, which helped the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) with an enhanced operational capability through the provision of modern equipment and training. In response to the Balaklia arms depot explosion, in March 2017, the SPS Programme responded swiftly to an urgent request and provided the relevant equipment to respond to this disaster within the framework of its humanitarian demining project for Ukraine.
•  The Multinational Telemedicine System, which improved access to medical expertise and increased survival rates in emergency situations, in particular in remote areas. (Both the telemedicine and the demining project have come to a successful completion at the end of 2017).
•  Finally, the 3D landmine detection radar prototype that will allow for the faster, cheaper and safer clearance of former conflict zones. The project should be completed by end of year.

Today we have about 40 ongoing activities under SPS auspices and Ukraine has remained the largest beneficiary of the programme over the last four years. Leading areas of cooperation include the defence against CBRN agents, security-related advanced technology, counter-terrorism, as well as energy security and Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR1325). This actually reflects the large scientific community in Ukraine, which has been able to take advantage of SPS, given its research capacity, its large pool of knowledgeable and experienced scientists. They have been able to respond and contribute to SPS priorities in emerging security challenges.

3.       What have been the main NATO-Ukraine achievements to date?

Active engagement between Ukraine and the SPS Programme dates back to 1991 and has been deepening ever since.

At the 2016 NATO Warsaw Summit, the Heads of State and Government, at their NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting, endorsed the Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) for Ukraine. Beyond the above-mentioned joint projects, there have been many others, which have been valuable for Ukraine but also for the region. Among them I would like to name the following:

• The Flood Risk Monitoring and Forecast in the Pripyat River Basin project that provided an automatic flood monitoring stations, located in the Pripyat river basin. In 2010, it was a first step towards a modern flood monitoring and forecast system to be installed in Ukraine and Belarus with NATO’s support. This system helps the local authorities and the population to prepare for and respond to floods in the region. This Project was implemented by the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, the Ukrainian Center of Environmental and Water Projects, the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute, and the Central Research Institute of Complex Use of Water Resources in Belarus.
  
• Another important area of discussion was the Ukraine Research and Academic Network (URAN), which has been set up with the support of NATO’s Science Programme. It provides hundreds of scientists at 56 institutions across Ukraine with access to international resources, such as academic journals and databases, as well as the European Union’s research and education network, GEANT. The URAN initiative has helped to better integrate Ukrainian researchers with the world’s scientific and academic community.
  
• The development of an advanced X-RAY GENERATOR. This Science Programme flagship project has helped to foster a new generation of young Ukrainian scientists working on the frontline of technology through the development of an innovative, cost-effective X-ray generator. The X-ray generator can be used across the world, in fields as diverse as medicine, illicit trafficking, explosive detection and environmental security. Located at the National Science Centre’s Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology in Ukraine, the X-ray generator is only 15 meters in circumference and, thus, takes up significantly less space, allowing it to be placed in the basement of smaller buildings. Launched in 2003 and completed in 2016, this was one of the longest running projects under the SPS Programme. This project was led by experts from Ukraine and the Netherlands.
  
• The Advanced Research Workshop on Physical and cyber safety in water critical infrastructure was aimed at increasing the awareness of the cyber related risks to current and future water utilities and services; at sharing experiences from leading utility managers and specialists; and at teaching how to increase surveillance, preparedness, as well as crisis minimization if everything else fails. The event created a broad knowledge base, to increase the stakeholders’ awareness of threats, and provided a platform of cooperation for the experts and decision-makers from different countries. This activity, which took place in Oslo, Norway, in June 2018, was led by experts from Ukraine and Norway.
  
• Finally, a new NATO project, Explosive Trade Detection for Standex (EXTRAS), led by research institutions in Italy and Serbia, will make it possible to detect explosives and prevent terrorist attacks on public transport. This project funded by NATO’s Science for Peace and Security Programme will use laser spectroscopy to identify explosive materials on potential bombers. The project started on 14 June 2018 in Rome. Led by the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) and the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Science in Serbia, it also includes institutions from Germany (ICT Fraunhofer), the Netherlands (TNO), Italy (the Urban Transport Operator of Roma Capitale and Forensic Police Service) and Ukraine (the National Technical University of Ukraine). The project is part of a NATO initiative to develop a system capable of detecting explosives and concealed weapons in real time, and securing mass transport infrastructure, such as metro and railway stations. The initiative also includes a project on microwave scanning technology in public transport, led by France, the Republic of Korea and Ukraine.

4.       In what way is this cooperation a two-way street?

SPS is a unique platform that facilitates dialogue between NATO members and partner across the globe. Moreover, SPS helps creating a common approach towards emerging security challenges. In response to the crisis in Ukraine, and following the political guidance provided by NATO Foreign Ministers in April 2014, scientific and technological cooperation with Ukraine in the framework of the SPS Programme has increased substantially. Since 2014, a total of 49 SPS activities with Ukraine were launched. These include Multi-year Research Projects, Advanced Research Workshops and Advanced Training Courses. SPS provides great opportunity to share scientific and practical experience among the scientists and researchers, within the framework of the security-relevant activities, and in the form of workshops, training courses, or multi-year research projects. That is always mutually beneficial for all participants.

5.       What are the main remaining challenges and what could be done better?

Today, we face a much broader range of threats than in the past. The illegal annexation of Crimea and the war in the Eastern part of Ukraine brought security challenges closer to NATO’s borders.

Ukraine understands efforts aimed at reinforcing NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, and concretely supports efforts towards projecting stability and strengthening security outside NATO’s territory. Ukraine shares with NATO similar concerns regarding the spread of weapons of mass destruction, cyber-attacks and threats to energy supplies, as well as environmental challenges with security implications. These challenges are too big for any one country or organization to handle on its own, Ukraine is standing ready to continue working closely with the Alliance to help tackle them.

6.       What does the future hold?

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the successful NATO-Ukraine scientific cooperation and valuable NATO Science for Peace and Security team’s efforts to maintaining its high dynamics. Ukraine has launched quite a number of important and beneficial scientific projects, which are implemented by the Ukrainian scientists together with others under the NATO SPS Programme.

We are committed to keeping the level of cooperation high, and I look forward to new mutually beneficial projects in future, especially on the basis of proposals from our research centers temporally replaced from the occupied territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. 

Moreover, SPS Information days facilitate the dialogue between NATO and Ukrainian scientists and NGOs, and raises public awareness about the humanitarian assistance of NATO to Ukraine. Ukraine is ready to further contribute to the public diplomacy value of SPS, and I would like to offer the possibility to arrange for another NATO SPS Info Day in Ukraine, to be held in the first part of 2019.