The Sitting of Ukraine-NATO Inter-Parliamentary Council was held in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and Assen Agov, NATO PA Vice President, co-chaired the session of the Inter-Parliamentary Council.

Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Council, People´s Deputies of Ukraine, and representatives of the national parliaments of NATO member states attended the session. 

The agenda covered the topical issues of relations between Ukraine and NATO, namely, current priorities of foreign policy of Ukraine, novelties of the national security strategy, assessment of implementation of Ukraine-NATO annual national programs a basic regulatory tool of bilateral cooperation, realization of state policy on raising public awareness of the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, coverage of NATO politics of public information, internal affairs of Ukraine.

Welcoming the participants of the session, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, stated that Ukraine should develop cooperation with NATO, strictly observing the fundamental political values of NATO and the European Union, namely, supremacy of law, freedom of speech, and democratic organization of life. At the same time, democracy should be embedded in the economic life, so that every person could realize their potential.

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stressed, "These political principles laid the foundation of our partnership with NATO, especially in the military and defense and security sectors." He singled out three important constituents of the partnership.

Firstly, V.Lytvyn stated that as a large European state, Ukraine can not stand on the sidelines of a large-scale cooperation in the Euro-Atlantic space, in particular in the process of development of new European security architecture.  

V.Lytvyn stated that now that relations between Ukraine and NATO no longer have political colouring, we have to focus on consistent implementation of the reached agreements, using all instruments of relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as established by Ukraine-NATO Special Partnership Charter and the Declaration on its complementation.

"Ukraine will remain a reliable partner of NATO and will strictly observe the principles of consistency and predictability of its foreign policy," the Head of the Ukrainian Parliament declared.

Secondly, V.Lytvyn supposes that cooperation with NATO is an important instrument of building Ukraine as a powerful, democratic and developed state. Therefore, we have been successfully implementing the Annual National Ukraine-NATO Cooperation Programs for three years running, considering them as an effective vehicle for internal reforms. Ukraine-NATO cooperation yields best results in such non-military sectors as consistent solution of political, economic and resource issues to meet the needs of state development, corruption counteraction, improvement of cooperation on science and education. It is worth mentioning the high level of trust and mutual assistance between Ukraine and NATO in the overcoming of consequences of emergency situations and technological disasters in Ukraine and other Euro-Atlantic states.

Thirdly, V.Lytvyn stressed that as an important contributor of international efforts to the elimination of global security challenges, Ukraine has already proved itself to be a reliable partner of NATO. Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization established a fruitful cooperation on the elimination of consequences of emergency situations and technological disasters, and in response to the global security challenges.

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reminded that Ukraine remains the only NATO member state that takes part in almost all ongoing basic peace-support missions under the aegis of NATO. 

In his welcoming address, Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Council M.Tomenko stated that sessions of the Inter-Parliamentary Council had become an integral element of professional activity of the Verkhovna Rada in part of fulfillment of its supervisory functions. He stressed that the session is being held in the historical moment of Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine: after a certain cooldown in the relations between Ukraine and NATO and undue thaw in relations with the Russian Federation, the situation is becoming balanced, while cooperation between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization gets a second wind and the bilateral dialogue becomes meaningful and fruitful. M.Tomenko drew attention to the strengthened cooperation within Ukraine-NATO commission, and action plan on implementation of Ukraine-NATO annual national program for 2011.

The Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine noted a wide range of issues of common concern (reforms of security sector, including special services; peace-making activity; energy, environmental and economic security; regulation of sub-regional situations which threaten the entire Europe). M.Tomenko stressed, "At the same time, respect for democratic values, such as human rights and rule of law, is on top of the agenda. This topic will catalyze Ukraine´s advance towards European integration which was proclaimed a priority of the foreign policy."

Therefore, M.Tomenko stated that increased attention of NATO Parliamentary Assembly to the political processes in Ukraine meets the interests of the Ukrainian society, as it should help detect and eliminate the problems impeding European integration. The speaker informed about the report of the Sub-Committee on Democratic Governance of the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security of NATO PA "Ukraine after the Orange Revolution: Inner Dynamics and Foreign Political Priorities" which is being drafted and will be presented at the regular session of the Assembly in Bucharest in 2011. 

The Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Council stated that the session agenda gives the opportunity to seek answers to all of the issues mentioned, and tackle the matters of Ukraine-NATO bilateral cooperation. 

Representatives of executive authorities of Ukraine and NATO institutions, and independent experts presented their reports.

Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Council, reporters and experts unanimously agreed that there is no alternative to the meaningful cooperation between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as Ukraine has always been an important factor and an acknowledged contributor to the continental security, with NATO supporting its advance to the European standards of life. 

The next session of Ukraine-NATO Inter-Parliamentary Council will be held in Brussels in December 2011.