NATO HQ Ukr 7 Dec . 2006	Priorities for Ukraine's defence and security sector reform Video interview with Professor Serhii Pyrozkhov, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Co-Chairman of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group on Defence Reform Multimedia 7 Dec. 2006 - NATO Priorities for Ukraine's defence and security sector reform - Video interview with Professor Serhii Pyrozkhov Q: Today we're speaking with Professor Serhii Pyrozhkov, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Co-chairman of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group on Defence Reform. Mr. Pyrozhkov, welcome. What are Ukraine's key priorities in terms of defence and security reform?  SERHII PYROZHKOV (Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine and Co-chairman of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group on Defence Reform):  Our priorities were identified a year ago when Ukraine started working actively on the implementation of the reform in the security and defence area. The first priority is that a conceptual document on the security sector reform is to be developed. And we have already developed a draft national security strategy which identifies the key challenges, as well as the key foundations for Ukraine's security policy. And these priorities reflect the fact that Ukraine should adapt its policy to the security challenges and threats existing in the 21st Century. Another priority is that the reform should cover the most important security organizations which are the armed forces, the interior troops, the security service and the intelligence service. I would also note here a third priority which is the development of the parliamentary civil control of the armed forces and the security sector in the development of the working relations with the civil society. Ukraine has proclaimed itself a democratic nation today, so clearly the Euro-Atlantic values should be the main basis for the security sector reform. Q: And what are the main challenges in implementing these reforms? PYROZHKOV: Challenge number one is the lack of political stability in the country and inadequate cooperation between various branches of power in order to implement the reforms. The other problem is inadequate level of cooperation between various elements of the security sector, because with us the ministry of defence, the minister of the interior, the security service, they all exist separated from one another, whereas a comprehensive system of the security sector should be developed, and that's a task for the future. And finally, another problem is the inadequate funding of the security sector, because without the proper level of funding all our strategies and all our plans can go null and void. Q: How is NATO assisting in Ukraine? Do you think NATO-Ukraine cooperation in implementing defence and security sector reforms have been useful to Ukraine? PYROZHKOV: We're profoundly convinced that our cooperation makes a very positive contribution to the security sector reform. Let me illustrate this with several examples. In 2003 Ukraine developed and adopted by the Parliament the new law on the basics of the national security. While developing that document we received a lot of expert advice from NATO. At that time Chris Donnelly was Assistant Secretary General, who directly oversaw expert assistance provided to us. And all the comments and all the advice provided by the experts of the NATO member nations were taken into account in the final version of the law. The law was adopted in July of 2003 and many members of Parliament, whatever political forces they represented, said that that was one of the best laws ever adopted in Ukraine. In 2002 Ukraine had started a comprehensive defence review. And a representative of NATO International Staff, Robert Wenlockers(ph), was a permanent advisor on behalf of NATO in the course of the defence review development. Now Ukraine has published a white paper on the armed forces, and has developed a long-term program for the reform of the defence sector up to 2011. All that has clearly helped us to better structure the reform of the armed forces. Today we presented that book that speaks about the security sector legislation of Ukraine at the meeting of the Joint Working Group on Defence Reform. That book was published thanks to NATO International Staff, to John Colston personally, to Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of the Armed Forces, to the Ukrainian Parliament and the National Security and Defence Council in Ukraine. In 2002, thanks to NATO assistance, Ukraine carried out a pilot project for land mine destruction. Today NAMSA and NATO Trust Fund is helping Ukraine carry out a more large scale project on excessive ammunition and armaments destruction. In order to understand the scale of the project let me give you two figures. We're talking about 1.5 million pieces of light arms and over one million tonnes of obsolete munitions. And we're talking about munitions and armaments that have been accumulated in the territory of Ukraine since the times of the Second World War. And finally yet another example today at the meeting of the Joint Working Group, we've been discussing a project for professional training of civilian experts who'll be working in the security sector, in particular for the ministry of defence. The project was started in October last year at the informal high-level summit in Vilnius. And today over 200 experts have already received professional training within the framework of the project. The project provides both professional training in various fields and training in the English language. I think all those examples vividly show that Ukraine benefits greatly from our cooperation with NATO. Q: Is there any other assistance that you would like to see from the Alliance? PYROZHKOV: Of course there can be many desires. We have now been discussing the idea of developing white papers for various parts of the security sector. For example, in early 2007 the plan is to develop a white paper on intelligence sector reform. We've set up a working group on the intelligence service reform and I think that that group, with the help of the NATO experts, will prepare the development of a white paper. Another key problem that Ukraine is facing today is reform of the ministry of the interior, and transformation of the so-called interior troops into a non-military structure. Representatives of law and enforcement agencies of France, in particular the Gendarmerie, are now offering their services and their advice in order to reform that service. I would also like to emphasize that Ukraine is also making its contribution to the projects under the aegis of the North Atlantic Alliance. I'm talking in particular about strategic lift services, participation in the Active Endeavour operation, and a number of other peacekeeping missions. So it's mutually beneficial, because Ukraine gets assistance from NATO and we want this assistance to continue, but on the other hand, Ukraine also makes its contributions to NATO operations within the framework of the Partnership for Peace program in particular. Q: Dr. PYROZHKOV, what are your priorities for the future. PYROZHKOV: My key priority is that Ukraine should become a blooming, prosperous nation. That Ukraine finds itself in a very favourable and friendly international environment. That we don't have any border problems with our neighbours, so we can finish the delimitation of the Ukrainian border in the east of the country. And of course, that Ukraine become a full-fledged member of the European and Euro-Atlantic community. And I hope that our cooperation can consolidate peace and security of the European continent. So that jointly we can combat the challenges of our time, such as fighting terrorism, illegal migration, drug trafficking, and what is generally called as non-military threats. And as a matter of fact, this is the reason this is what we are working on together with my colleague, John Colston, within the framework of the Joint Working Group on Defence Reform. Q:  Dr. Pyrozhkov, thank you for being here with us today.