NATO- Ukraine Committee 16 Dec. 1997

Speech by Minister Mr. H. Van Mierlo Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands The Charter for a Distinctive Partnership between NATO and Ukraine underscores the particular importance attached by the Alliance to the status of Ukraine as an independent, democratic state. It is important to keep repeating this point. Cooperation between Ukraine and NATO in the EAPC and the Partnership for Peace is not duplicated but rather underpinned by the NATO-Ukraine Committee. The Committee has been afforded ample scope for both political dialogue and practical military cooperation. The NATO-Ukraine Work Plan 1998, which is before us today, strikes a good balance between consultation and practical cooperation on a limited number of topics with a high political priority, such as the problems of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. I should like to point in particular to the Joint Working Group on Defence Reform. In what is a crucial phase for Ukraine, the Working Group can help to build up armed forces and ensure that they are under democratic civilian control. The Netherlands supports the proposed programme of work. The Netherlands is also prepared to make a material contribution to the work of the NATO Information Office in Kyiv, for it is clear that the nature of NATO and its current activities and priorities are still not clear to many people in Ukraine. I am well aware that some people at times feel their patience is tested by the gradual development of our partnership. But the partnership between NATO and Ukraine is an open-ended process, which will adjust and grow with the requirements and opportunities of the times. The Work Plan that we are about to adopt today represents but one, yet indispensable step on the road to a cooperative European security architecture.