FOR THE RECORD
Highlights of Ukraine's foreign policy in 1998
The report below is excerpted from a news release provided by the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington.
All the activities of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998 were centered on the major task of its foreign policy: to protect and promote Ukraine's national interests in the international arena. To achieve maximum results, the ministry has taken active positions on a range of foreign policy issues. It has also undertaken to make the foreign policy of Ukraine balanced, predictable and stable, and to render Ukrainian diplomacy professional and insightful.
In 1998 the president of Ukraine made 19 visits abroad, received 19 heads of state and heads of government, and attended 27 international events that took place in Ukraine. Ukraine signed more than 150 bilateral agreements. Its consular offices issued 400,000 visas.
During 1998 Ukraine made positive advances toward integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Progress became evident in the relationship with the European Union. The inaugural meeting of the Ukraine-EU Cooperation Council was held June 8-9, 1998, during which the prime minister of Ukraine stated Ukraine's aspiration to become an associate member of the EU. In 1998, six meetings were held, on different levels, between Ukraine and the EU.
The key event was the second Ukraine-EU summit held October 16, 1998, in Vienna. There was agreement to begin consultations on establishing a free-trade zone between Ukraine and the European Union. In this regard, the EU's support of the Ukrainian project of Caspian oil transportation toward Western Europe is of particular importance. EU representatives reiterated their intention to provide loans to finance the completion of the fourth and second reactors at the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants.
EU enlargement, along with the obvious positive consequences, also can bring about some adverse repercussions for Ukraine. Accession of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary can lead to a visa regime for Ukrainian citizens who wish to enter those countries and could adversely affect economic, political and cultural ties between Ukraine and its western neighbors. In view of this, Ukraine began active cooperation with the countries targeted for the first wave of EU enlargement in order to find a mutually acceptable resolution to these problems.
In 1998 Ukraine increased its participation in every field of OSCE activities. In particular, Ukraine cooperated with the OSCE Bureau of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the High Commissioner of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on National Minorities to find international financial assistance to resolve the problems of resettlement of the Crimean Tatars. Ukraine paid considerable attention to cooperation with the OSCE in the economic and ecological dimensions of security on the European continent.
Ukraine pursued a course of invigorated participation in conflict resolution in the regions where our state has political and economic interests. Active participation in the peacekeeping operations and efforts conducted under auspices of the United Nations, the OSCE, as well as in the framework of the Stabilization Forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was an explicit contribution to strengthening international security. Ukraine has proven to the world that it is not merely a consumer of security, but a security contributor, as well.
Notwithstanding the successes in the field of conflict resolution, the situations in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnistria remain worrisome. These "suspended" or "frozen" conflicts are capable of becoming a source of new threats. Ukraine has undertaken measures to accentuate the importance of the OSCE's increased attention toward these conflicts and emphasizes the need for adequate distribution of funds and efforts toward their resolution. Ukraine continued to cooperate with NATO on the basis of the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership and in the framework of the EAPC and the Partnership for Peace Program. On November 4, 1998, the president of Ukraine approved the "State Program on Cooperation between Ukraine and NATO" for the period until 2001.
Active steps taken toward implementation of the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between Ukraine and NATO include:
A Ukraine-NATO summit will take place in the U.S. in April 1999 within the framework of the NATO summit devoted to the 50th anniversary of the alliance.
Cooperation between Ukraine and the Council of Europe continued, including the adaptation of Ukraine's legislation to European standards. However, there have been issues of contention in relations between Ukraine and the CE. This relates to the adoption of legislation for the abolishment of capital punishment, development of local administration in Ukraine, preparation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of the report on fulfillment by Ukraine of the obligations undertaken at the time it joined the CE.
Ukraine's activity in international organizations, in particular those related to the United Nations system, has been aimed at protecting national political and economic interests. As a result of its presidency at the previous session of the United Nations General Assembly, Ukraine received and actively used additional means to promote its own interests: marshalling international assistance for minimizing the consequences of the Chornobyl catastrophe; holding an international pledging conference on resettlement of the Crimean Tatars, during which the participating countries pledged about $3.5 million for this cause; receiving technical assistance in the framework of the U.N. Global Program on Money Laundering; holding an international seminar on organized crime with the participation of experts from Central and Eastern European states.
The Economic and Social Council of the U.N., on the recommendation of its functioning committees, adopted a series of resolutions important to Ukraine. They accentuate the issue of providing support to countries with economies in transition in the areas of population programs, ecological policy, statistics, social development, crime prevention and combatting drug trafficking.
The U.N. Development Program has been the most active U.N. body to cooperate with Ukraine. It has executed a very broad program of activity in Ukraine, implementing more than 30 projects that are directed toward facilitating processes of democratization, human rights protection, crime prevention and control over the spread of drugs, social integration and regional development. There are also programs aimed at facilitating small and medium-size business development, improving health care services, and planning and coordination in the field of environment protection.
Ukraine received humanitarian assistance from states and international organizations for the Transcarpatian regions that suffered from flooding.
Ukraine was active in efforts to secure its election as a non-permanent member to the United Nations Security Council for the period 2000-2001. The 50th anniversary of the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights was officially marked in Yalta.
International cooperation on the sub-regional level remains very important in the foreign policy of Ukraine. Ukraine has been an active member of the Central European Initiative and of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council, which was created on Ukraine's initiative. Ukraine pursued cooperation with the Council of the Baltic States, and continued probing the issue of confidence-building in the Black Sea. The ministry actively prepared for implementation of a proposal by President Leonid Kuchma to hold a summit of the Baltic and Black Sea states in Yalta in 1999.
Ukraine continued its work aimed at signing agreements on free trade with the member-states of the Central European Free Trade Association (CEFTA) and eventually joining this free trade zone. The heads of delegation of the GUAM [Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova] countries met in Oslo during the OSCE foreign ministers meeting. In view of the decision to renew the Silk Road and bearing in mind the signing of the Baku Declaration, the prospects for such cooperation are considerable. The presidents of Ukraine, Moldova and Romania decided to establish the Lower Danube and Upper Prut Euroregions and considered the establishment of the free economic zone Reni-Galati-Djurdjulesti.
Trilateral cooperation among Ukraine, Poland and the U.S. in the areas of macroeconomics, finance, small and middle-size businesses, and reform of local administration also was instituted in 1998.
Fruitful cooperation with international structures enhanced Ukraine's possibilities to broaden bilateral relations. In this regard, it is worthwhile mentioning Ukraine's relations with neighboring Poland and Russia. Ukraine also enhanced it relations with the world's recognized leader, the U.S., and Ukraine's biggest trade partner in Western Europe, Germany.
There is a trend in Ukrainian-U.S. relations toward greater institutionalization. Bilateral contacts are regular and take place at various levels. On July 22-23, 1998, the second plenary meeting of the Ukraine-U.S. Binational Commission, co-chaired by President Kuchma and Vice-President Al Gore, was held in Kyiv, resulting in the further strengthening of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. The visit of Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright to Kyiv in March 1998 also contributed considerably to developing Ukraine-U.S. relations. An agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy was signed and resolution of the Bushehr issue paved the way for cooperation in the field of nuclear energy and space exploration. The visit of Ukraine's foreign minister to the U.S. also intensified Ukraine's relationship with the U.S. The U.S. holds first place in the amount of foreign investment in Ukraine.
In 1998 particular attention was paid to expanding relations with the Federal Republic of Germany, which is a key trading partner and one of the major Western investors in Ukraine. Cooperation with this country was marked by a series of high-level bilateral events: the state visit of the federal president to Ukraine in February 1998 and bilateral political consultations on May 26-29, 1998. On December 3, 1998, the foreign minister of Ukraine made a working visit to Germany; this was the first high-level contact after the new federal government in Germany was formed. In the course of the visit, the two sides considered the parameters of cooperation in light of Germany's chairmanship of the G-7 in 1999, as well as of the the EU and Western European Union in the first half of 1999.
In 1998 Ukraine and Poland advanced their mutually beneficial cooperation in all spheres with a view toward enhancing their strategic partnership. The intensity of Ukrainian-Polish relations at the highest level and the productive implementation of agreements testify to the existence of far-reaching possibilities for expanding Ukrainian-Polish ties. Currently the two nations are discussing the prospects of beginning direct negotiations to draft an agreement on free trade. Ukraine and Poland co-sponsored a joint motion to the European Commission regarding the utilization of the PHARE and TACIS funds for the modernization of the infrastructure along the joint border. The customs checkpoint Krakow-Korchova at the Poland-Ukraine border was opened, and the inter-governmental Agreement on Cooperation in Crediting was signed.
A number of important events happened in Ukrainian-Russian relations. The issues of improvement of economic cooperation, ratification of the major political treaty, implementation of joint projects and resolution of legal aspects of border demarcation were in the center of negotiations at different levels. Ukraine considers ratification by the Russian State Duma of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership, which took place on December 25, 1998, a step that opens new avenues for developing relations with Russia. Although Russia remains Ukraine's most important trade partner, it should be noted that in 1998 the volume of trade between the two countries decreased by half. The Russian financial crisis strengthened this tendency and affected the financial and currency situation in Ukraine. In 1998 there was a gradual resolution of the old problems in Ukraine-Russia relations. From February 27 to March 1, 1998, the president of Ukraine visited Russia, at which time the two sides signed the Treaty and the Program of Long-Term Economic Cooperation for the period 1998-2007.
The process of delimiting the border between Ukraine and Russia was started. As of today, two-thirds of the border has been agreed upon, however, the delimitation is proceeding too slowly. At the fourth meeting of the Joint Ukrainian-Russian Commission the two sides agreed to complete this work as soon as possible. The prospects for delimitation of the sea border in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait remain less definite due to the position taken on this issue by the Russian side.
Ukraine paid considerable attention to the problem of reforming the CIS. It believes that there is an urgent need to transform the CIS into a mechanism for negotiations and consultations that would complement the establishment of qualitatively new bilateral and multilateral relations among the post-Soviet states on the basis of international law. The majority of the participating states share such an approach.
Ukraine believes that economic cooperation, particularly establishment of a free trade zone, should become an area of cooperation that would unite CIS members. Economic cooperation in the framework of the CIS should develop in the context of accession by the CIS countries to the existing international and regional economic institutions and organizations, and with due consideration of requirements set forth by the GATT/WTO. Ukraine believes that it is only logical for the CIS to concentrate on economic cooperation, while forfeiting cooperation in the political, military, military-technical, humanitarian, legal, informational and ecological fields, as well as in the sphere of border protection, conflict resolution and collective defense. Being of the opinion that activity of the commonwealth should be more effective and less profuse, Ukraine proposes cancelling existing CIS bodies that duplicate the functions already performed by similar structures of the U.N. system, the Council of Europe and the OSCE.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 21, 1999, No. 8, Vol. LXVII
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