Ukraine and NATO: “Content Leads of Format”

“As of today, the Ukrainian military are the main contributors to international peacekeeping efforts,” noted Ihor Tymofeyev, Deputy Minister of Defense (right in photo), at a press conference last Friday. In terms of the number of missions accomplished in the past and being accomplished now, Ukraine is one of the top twenty most active peacekeeping states. 3129 Ukrainian servicemen are now doing peacekeeping duty in eleven missions on the territory of nine countries. According to the deputy minister, this activity is a significant component of international cooperation and is of paramount importance for the development of Ukraine’s Armed Forces themselves. The main objective is to create and propagate worldwide the image of Ukraine as a reliable partner that pursues a predictable policy. This will also help our armed forces meet modern European requirements, which is very essential for strengthening relations with NATO.

It is a basic view of our state that Ukraine will be an active donor to, not just a consumer of, European security, the deputy minister of defense said. “This means Ukraine has only one possible choice,” Mr. Tymofeyev noted, “to assert itself as an influential regional state by increasing its contribution to regional and global security. At the same time, this enables Ukraine to reduce its own military potential to a minimum sufficient for averting crises and, should an armed conflict arise, to solve it by way of collective defense.”

As to cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Maj.- Gen. Leonid Holopatiuk, chief of the Euro-Atlantic Cooperation Department at the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Headquarters (pictured left), said, “The period of youthful romanticism in relations with NATO is over. Ukraine is now in the process of genuine Euro-Atlantic integration.” From his perspective, great hopes are being placed in the Istanbul summit the results of which could serve as an indicator of Ukraine’s chances to increase the level of cooperation with NATO and speed up joining the alliance. “The existing level of relations with NATO is well ahead of the membership action plan’s format, as far as its content is concerned,” the major general noted. The crucial thing is to establish genuine cooperation and achieve such standards that Ukraine’s armed forces will become more mobile, interchangeable, and prepared for performing operational missions. Major General Holopatiuk believes that a Ukraine-NATO memorandum on using the Ukrainian military cargo aircraft will be signed as early as in May. He dismissed as “sheer nonsense” the allegations that the signing and ratification of the memorandum will allow NATO to set up its bases in Ukraine, emphasizing that this is a framework document which does not run counter to the Constitution.