Free elections enhance Kiev’s ties with NATO

By Jerome Glass

Date: 10/03/05

Relations between the Ukraine and NATO are at an all-time high. The holding of free and democratic elections in December has ushered in a new era of NATO-Ukraine relations which was enshrined in a landmark meeting of the two parties on 22 February. Congratulating President Viktor Yushchenko and the Ukrainian people, the Secretary-General of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, pledged to "sharpen and refocus" the relationship and acknowledged the Ukrainian goal of full integration into the Euro-Atlantic partnership.

Ukraine has come some way since it first approached NATO in 1991, although it has long been careful to foster close relations with the alliance. It was the first of the Commonwealth of Independent States to sign up to NATO's "Partnership for Peace" (PfP) programme of security and defence co-operation in 1994 and, by 1997, it had established its own NATO-Ukraine 'Charter' which set out a framework for enhancing its NATO integration. After a brief cooling of relations early in 2002 over the sale of air-defence equipment to Iraq, the partnership was put back on track with the establishment of a NATO-Ukraine action plan for deepening and broadening relations. Ukraine has had to back up its NATO aspirations with action. It has provided troops to the NATO-led peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Kosovo, and provided over-flight clearance for the NATO coalition forces in Afghanistan. In return, NATO has assisted it in such areas as defence reform and civil emergency planning as part of the PfP programme.

Although officials describe the current mood as extremely positive, it remains unclear exactly how NATO-Ukraine relations will develop in the near future. De Hoop Scheffer announced a new NATO project to help destroy stockpiles of surplus munitions in the Ukraine, which he claimed would amount to the largest single demilitarisation effort in the world. The upcoming Vilnius summit of NATO foreign ministers in April should allow members to flesh out the promise to "sharpen and refocus" relations, and it is likely that efforts will concentrate on defence reform and reform of the security services in particular. For the moment though, the ultimate goal of membership remains a long way off.

Article reports on the positive impact of the regime change in late 2004 in Ukraine on the country's relations with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).