7 Sep. 2005

Senior official explains Intensified Dialogue with Ukraine Opinion Interview with Ambassador Erdmann Background NATO - Ukraine relations At a time of intensifying cooperation with Ukraine, NATO’s newly appointed Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, Ambassador Martin Erdmann, will be deeply involved in taking forward the NATO-Ukraine relationship over the next few years. When Ukraine’s newly elected President Victor Yushchenko attended a summit meeting in Brussels on 22 February, NATO leaders expressed support for Ukraine’s ambitious reform agenda and agreed to sharpen and refocus NATO-Ukraine cooperation in line with the new government’s priorities. Two months later, at the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting of foreign ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 21 April, the Allies and Ukraine launched an Intensified Dialogue on Ukraine’s aspirations to NATO membership and announced a package of short-term actions designed to enhance NATO-Ukraine cooperation in high-priority reform areas. In an exclusive interview, Novyny, NATO’s magazine on NATO-Ukraine cooperation, asked Ambassador Erdmann to explain what these recent initiatives will mean in practice for Ukraine.