Before Prague
On October 29 the third meeting of a high level joint Ukraine- NATO work group on the issues of the military reform was finished in the Crimea. The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Serhiy Pyrozhkov and the NATO one by political adviser to the NATO Secretary General Edgar Buckley. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was represented by its State Secretary on International Cooperation Colonel General Viktor Bannykh. The main subject of the Crimean meeting, Academician Pyrozhkov told The Day, was preparing and holding the Defense Inspection, coordinating the preparation schedule, and its program. The Defense Inspection will start in January 2003 and will include several stages. The goal of the final stage is forming standards of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance in our Armed Forces and increasing their effectiveness. NATO’s aid to Ukraine at this stage envisages on-the-job training for our military at the headquarters and in member countries, implementing pilot projects to strengthen the civilian sector in the Defense Ministry, and holding consultations on the level of experts. NATO member states also agreed to proceed their cooperation with Ukraine in the sphere of the state border security to increase the level of its safety and promote the fight against terrorism.
Academician Pyrozhkov also told The Day that at the NATO summit in Prague scheduled for November 21-22 a Joint NATO-Ukraine Action Plan will be approved, which is closely connected with the Membership Action Plan that is to be signed by all pretenders. In the words of Gen. Buckley, NATO is prepared and planning to continue its strategic partnership with Ukraine. He also noted that the Prague meeting is very important and expressed NATO’s hope to see Ukraine among its participants. However, he did not specify on what level Ukraine could be represented in Prague.
The current stage of negotiations differs from previous ones, according to Serhiy Pyrozhkov, in that Ukraine has already made essential steps concerning its obligations, which are to be implemented in the course of the defense reform. Another new moment is military reform exceeding the bounds of the Defense Ministry and involving the whole executive power.
The NATO side, said Pyrozhkov, made a number of serious proposals concerning aid and financing concrete actions aimed on reforming Ukraine’s Armed Forces. For instance, Greece earmarked 50,000 euro for joint works with Turkey and Germany in utilizing not only ammunition but light weapons. As it became known, the amount of weapons in question reaches 1.5 million. The issue of involving NATO structures in adapting military personnel discharged in course of the reform was also discussed in Yalta. It is planned to organize civilian retraining and job placement for them.
“Our task is help Ukraine in conducting its reform with the account of the Western countries’ experience,” stressed Gen. Buckley. Another subject for discussing was civilian control over the Armed Forces, in part, creating civilian oversight in the Defense Ministry of Ukraine. Today there are 30% civilians employed at the ministry. By 2010 their share will reach 60%. The ministry has already worked out a jobs reform plan. The issue of financing the Armed Forces was also examined. According to Pyrozhkov, while in 2003 it is planned to earmark 1.47% of GDP for the defense needs, by 2010 this share will reach 2.48%. Buckley expressed his satisfaction with the increased attention to the problem of financing the Armed Forces by the Ukrainian government.
This time the question of the presence of the Russian Federation Black Sea Navy in the Crimea was not on the agenda, according to Academician Pyrozhkov. However, he noted that a special Russian-Ukrainian subcommittee on this subject was created and is meeting in Moscow.
Ukraine’s way to NATO is far from simple or easy, but Ukraine has to go through it, believes Pyrozhkov. First, Euro-Atlantic integration brings us closer to European standards. In other words, we have to first establish the European way of life for our country’s inhabitants. Second, it is a way for Ukraine to enter the civilized world. On this road Ukraine has a chance to withstand today’s security challenges.
The work of the Ukraine-NATO joint group in Yalta resulted in approving special proposals on priority directions in reforming security structures, favoring the development of civilian-military relations, experts’ support for the military reform, raising the military skill level on the basis of Ukraine’s National Defense Academy, etc.
