U.S.-Ukraine Policy Dialogue Conference held in the Ukrainian capital (01/01/06)

U.S.-Ukraine Policy Dialogue Conference held in the Ukrainian capital

U.S.-Ukraine Foundation

From November 13-17, 2005, the U.S.-Ukraine Policy Dialogue hosted U.S. and Ukrainian former and current government officials, business and media leaders and representatives of nongovernmental organizations at a working session in Kyiv. Policy Dialogue seeks to facilitate democratic reform in Ukraine and the restoration of a meaningful strategic partnership between the two countries by bringing together policy makers and practitioners in practical dialogue.

The project is managed by the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and American and Ukrainian institutional partners and individual experts, including the Razumkov Center for Ukrainian Economic and Political Studies, the International Center for Policy Studies, the Europe XXI Foundation, the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University, the Atlantic Council of the United States, SigmaBleyzer, and the Kennan Institute. The two-year project is funded by the U.S. State Department under the authority of the Freedom Support Act.

Participants sat on one of four task forces: foreign policy and national security, politics and governance, economics and business, and media and information. Task forces discussed issues in U.S.-Ukraine relations and Ukraine's democratic reform and considered examples from the U.S. and European experience. U.S. Ambassador John Herbst hosted an opening reception at his residence and, in his keynote address, provided an overview of the latest political and economic situation in Ukraine. Deputy Foreign Minister Oleh Shamshur (who is the new Ukrainian ambassador to the United States) addressed participants, press, and invited guests at the concluding session of the Policy Dialogue.

Throughout the week, task forces also had the opportunity to meet with other high-level Ukrainian policy makers, including Volodymyr Lytvyn, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Oleh Rybachuk, chair of the presidential secretariat; Anatoliy Kinakh, secretary National Security and Defense Council; and many others.

From discussions with each other and among government officials, each task force produced an action plan of policy recommendations for distribution to U.S. and Ukrainian government officials. The dialogue also afforded the unique opportunity for participants to identify practical technical assistance needed to support the policy recommendations. All task force action plans are available on the foundation's website at www.usukraine.org/dialogue.shtml.

The Politics and Governance Task Force, co-chaired by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Green Miller, and Vyacheslav Koval, deputy chairman of the Committee on Agenda, Ethics and Proceedings of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, focused on the primary challenges facing the new government in Ukraine. Included in their discussions were talks on political corruption, the lack of transparency in governmental processes and politics, the lack of political accountability to the public, the misallocation of administrative resources, and the need for civil service reform. Particular attention was given to the implications of the upcoming parliamentary and local government elections in Ukraine.

The task force concluded that the process and outcome of the upcoming elections will determine whether there will be a genuine democratic restructuring of society. The Politics and Government Task Force called upon the leaders of political parties to sign the Standards of Ethical Conduct for the Election Campaign and to commit themselves to transparent elections, transparent financing of the election campaigns, and full access for Ukrainian and international observers to monitor the activities of political parties at all stages of the election process.

Task force members also encouraged nongovernmental organizations to participate in election monitoring activities. Finally, the Politics and Governance Task Force stressed the need for better coordination in the public administrative system and process. They proposed the creation of a single coordinating center at the level of the Cabinet of Ministers to facilitate this reform.

The Foreign Policy and National Security Task Force, co-chaired by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer and former Ambassador to the U.S. Yuri Shcherbak, addressed U.S.-Ukraine relations, NATO membership and EU integration, and Ukraine's role in the region. Recognizing the Ukrainian government's uncoordinated decision-making process as a significant obstacle to achieving its foreign policy objectives, the task force recommended that the National Security and Defense Council establish permanent structures to facilitate inter-agency coordination and to prepare policy options.

To further explain how Ukraine might improve policy coordination, Mr. Pifer and Stephen Larrabee of the Rand Corporation hosted a workshop on the U.S. government's interagency process and the function and role of the U.S. National Security Council in foreign policy decision-making. The dialogue participants also welcomed the beginning of the U.S.-Ukraine energy dialogue and outlined the short-term and long-term priorities for Ukraine, including achieving market economy status and the passage of intellectual property rights and media legislation. In addition, the task force urged the U.S. government to actively work with Congress to lift the Jackson-Vanik amendment on Ukraine. The task force noted that as a result of the June session's policy recommendations, a Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition has been formed with over 75 member organizations.

Echoing the findings of the Politics and Governance and Foreign Policy task forces, the Economics and Business Task Force found that the weakened institutional capacity of the government of Ukraine was a major stumbling block to the introduction of essential radical, systemic and sustainable market economic reforms. The task force emphasized that the Verkhovna Rada needs to pass legislation to enhance property rights protections, strengthen the rule of law, reduce the tax burden, increase integration into the global economy, and complete WTO accession. The dialogue participants also noted that Ukraine needs to continue to improve its legislation to achieve market economy status and for Ukraine's graduation from the Jackson-Vanik amendment.

The Information and Media Task Force identified five crucial issues for discussion, including: insufficient media independence, especially in the regions; the absence of political will to implement a public broadcasting system; the current difficulties faced by journalists due to an ambiguous legal system and a search for legitimacy with the public; the difficulty press secretaries have had with working as a bridge between their principal and their public; and the lack of coordination of technical assistance coming from the international community.

The three primary recommendations of the task force included the following: first, there is a need to assist the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine (NTRBCU) in developing policies on digital broadcasting and the licensing of cable operators, but also in building capacity to adequately conduct their regulatory mandate. Second, by using press centers and institutes of journalism, programs could target more closely civil servants by teaching them to better work with the media, as well as with journalists, to help increase standards of professionalism. Although public broadcasting will remain at the center of the debate, it will probably not be adequately addressed by the legislature until after the elections. For this reason, the task force decided that in the short run, public broadcasting must be treated as a mechanism to attain a more transparent and responsible media, rather than a goal in itself. The task force met with Rector Volodymyr Rizun of the Kyiv Institute of Journalism, as well as Vitalii Shevchenko of NTRBCU. It was established that this dialogue must continue with the Parliamentary Committee on Media Freedom and Information in order to achieve a consensus.

For questions or more information about Policy Dialogue call (202) 347-4264. All participant lists are available on the foundation's website at www.usukraine.org/dialogue.shtml.

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