NATO International Week held in Kyiv
The Ukrainian National Defence Academy (UNDA) hosted NATO’s seventh International Week from 5 to 9 February. Organised in close cooperation with the NATO Defense College (NDC) in Rome, the event is aimed at improving partipants’ general understanding of the global security environment and challenges, the ongoing process of NATO transformation, as well as more specific topics, such as energy security and the Alliance’s partnerships, including its Distinctive Partnership and Intensified Dialogue with Ukraine.
The event was formally inaugurated by UNDA Commandant General of the Army, Vitaliy Radetskyi, NDC Commandant Lt.Gen. Marc Vankeirsbilck, and the Slovak Ambassador to Ukraine, H.E. Urban Rusnak. Slovakia assumed the role of NATO’s Contact Point Embassy at the beginning of 2007.
Throughout the week, lectures were given by top-level speakers from NDC, NATO member countries and independent experts, followed by discussion and exchanges of views. The event was attended by a higher number of civilian participants from various Ukrainian ministries and agencies than in previous years (up from 5 percent last year to 40 per cent). This reflects the current drive to develop a professional civilian cadre for defence and security structures, which is one of Ukraine’s top defence reform priorities and is actively being supported by NATO member countries .
The International Week concluded with a keynote address by the Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Thomas Baptiste, on “NATO After Riga,” in which he explained the significance of the November 2006 NATO Summit in Riga and the decisions it reached.
A more detailed report can be found at: http://www.ndc.nato.int/outreach/kiev_2007.html
