PRESS INFO 4 July 1997

The Development of NATO's Partnership with Ukraine NATO's relations with Ukraine began to develop soon after the country achieved independence in 1991. Ukraine immediately joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, and remained an active participant throughout the life of that body. It joined the Partnership for Peace program in 1994, and was among the founding members of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in May 1997. President Kuchma visited NATO on 1 June 1995, met the Secretary General and signalled his wish to upgrade NATO-Ukraine relations to a new level. Accordingly, Foreign Minister Udovenko visited NATO on 14 September 1995 to formally accept the Ukrainian PfP Individual Partnership Programme and to hold a 16+1 meeting with the North Atlantic Council on issues related to European security. On that same day, NATO and Ukraine issued a Joint Press Statement spelling out the general principles of NATO-Ukraine relations in PfP and in other areas. An implementation paper was agreed in March 1996, and the first 16+1 consultation at the Political Committee level took place on 3 April 1996. High-level meetings continued throughout 1996 and the beginning of 1997. A Ukrainian liaison officer now works in the Manfred Woerner wing at NATO Headquarters, and an officer has been stationed at the Partnership Coordination Cell (PCC) Mons. Ukraine has remained an active participant in PfP activities both at NATO HQ and in Allied and Partner nations and has also hosted a number of PfP exercises on its own territory. Ukraine has made significant contributions to peacekeeping activities. In particular it made an important contribution to the Implementation Force in Bosnia (IFOR) consisting of one infantry battalion of 550 men. Similarly, Ukraine has participated in the Stabilisation Force (SFOR), contributing one mechanized infantry battalion and one helicopter squadron of 10 heavy helicopters on call - altogether 400 men. Ukraine has also pledged 30 policemen to the International Police Task Force, 22 of whom are already deployed. Ukraine is also contributing 105 men to the UN force in Eastern Slavonia. The Secretary General of NATO paid a visit to Ukraine in April 1996, and a further visit in May 1997 to inaugurate the NATO Information and Documentation Centre in Kyiv. This is the first such centre to be opened by NATO in any partner country. The Centre will play a crucial role in disseminating information about NATO and in explaining Alliance policies. Over the last few years, Ukraine has absorbed the second largest share of NATO's information outreach budget. As a result, it has been possible to increase the number of information-related events taking place in Ukraine, such as conferences and seminars, and to invite more Ukrainian groups to visit NATO for briefings and discussions. On 29 May 1997, on the margins of the Spring Meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Sintra, Portugal, NATO Secretary General Solana and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Udovenko initialled a "Charter for a Distinctive Partnership Between NATO and Ukraine", in advance of the formal signing of the document at the July 1997 Madrid Summit of NATO Heads of State and Government. In the Charter, the NATO Allies reaffirm their support for Ukrainian sovereignty and independence, territorial integrity, democratic development, economic prosperity and status as a non-nuclear weapons state, as well as the principle of inviolability of frontiers. These are key factors of stability and security in Central and Eastern Europe and in the continent as a whole. NATO has also welcomed Ukraine's decision to support the indefinite extension of theTreaty on Non-Proliferation Treaty of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and its contribution to the withdrawal and dismantlement of nuclear weapons which were based on its territory. Assurances given to Ukraine, as a non-nuclear weapon state party to the NPT, by all five nuclear-weapon states which are parties to the Treaty, were also welcomed by NATO. Areas for consultation and cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, in particular through joint seminars, joint working groups, and other cooperative programmes, will cover a broad range of topics including areas such as civil emergency planning and disaster preparedness; civil-military relations, democratic control of the armed forces, and Ukrainian defence reform; defence planning, budgeting, policy, strategy and national security concepts; defence conversion; NATO-Ukraine military cooperation and interoperability; economic aspects of security; science and technology issues; environmental security issues, including nuclear safety; aerospace research and development; civil-military coordination of air traffic management and control. Additional areas for cooperation will also be explored. Examples include armaments cooperation (beyond the existing dialogue taking place in the Conference on National Armaments Directors ( CNAD); military training, including PfP exercises on Ukrainian territory and NATO support for the Polish-Ukrainian peacekeeping battalion; and promotion of defence cooperation between Ukraine and its neighbours. A military liaison mission of Ukraine will be established as part of a Ukrainian mission to NATO in Brussels. NATO and Ukraine consider their relationship as an evolving, dynamic process. To ensure that they are developing their relationship and implementing the provisions of this Charter to the fullest extent possible, the North Atlantic Council will periodically meet with Ukrainian representatives in a new forum to be known as the NATO-Ukraine Commission, as a rule not less than twice a year. The Commission will assess implementation of the Charter and suggest ways to improve or further develop cooperation. On the parliamentary level, NATO and Ukraine will encourage expanded dialogue and cooperation between the North Atlantic Assembly ( which brings together parliamentarians from NATO and Partner countries) and the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada). Extensive cooperation between NATO and Ukraine has also taken place in the field of disaster relief and civil emergency planning.