With the onset of COVID-19 and all the emergency lockdowns and physical distancing measures that have been enacted in order to slow the spread of the pandemic, people have begun to use various online platforms to conduct church services, meetings, seminars and so on. What has become very popular is a new medium called “webinar,” basically a seminar held on the web.
Many of these, particularly those sponsored by the Washington-based Atlantic Council, deal with Ukraine. The advantage of such online discussions is the ability to link globally, thus allowing experts from both Ukraine and North America to discuss issues simultaneously. Recently one such webinar, sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, brought together both Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Andriy Shevchenko, in Ottawa, with Canada’s new ambassador to Ukraine, Larisa Galadza, in Kyiv.
Ambassadors Shevchenko and Galadza covered myriad issues regarding Canada-Ukraine relations, including the free trade agreement; Operation UNIFIER; dealing with COVID-19, including Ukraine’s assistance to the rest of the world in this pandemic by utilizing the Antonov Mriya to transport medical supplies; how Ukraine was able to assist Canada following the Iranian shootdown of a Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane, most of whose passengers were actually heading for Canada; countering Russian hybrid warfare and disinformation; as well as maintaining sanctions on Russia.
Mr. Shevchenko noted that Russia is trying to use the pandemic situation in an effort to convince some countries that this is the time to review sanctions. Instead, they should be used to pressure Moscow to get on the right track internationally. “If there is a chance to get some transformational changes and a chance to make Russia change its behavior, this is the time,” he said.
One topic that may be of particular interest to American readers is Ukraine’s relationship with NATO.
Ms. Galadza stressed that one thing Ukrainians have to understand about NATO is that it is not just a military alliance, but also a political organization that stresses democratic values, and that Canadian policy strives to educate Ukrainians as to the benefits NATO brings them as citizens of the country.
“The important part of this cooperation is to bring Ukraine into the fold is not the technical part. It’s not about meeting military standards. Rather it’s about cooperating with Ukraine to ensure that it can demonstrate to the alliance that it can organize itself according to democratic principles,” she said.
Ms. Galadza also said that Canada is advocating for the resumption of the NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC) and actively supporting Ukraine in attaining membership in the NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partners (EOP) program
The NUC is the decision-making body responsible for developing the NATO-Ukraine relationship and for directing cooperative activities. It also provides a forum for consultation between the allies and Ukraine on security issues of common concern. Since 2018 its meetings have been blocked by Hungary which claims its minority in Zakarpattia is threatened by the Ukrainian language law.
The EOP gives five countries that significantly contribute to NATO operations – Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden – a special status within the alliance. This status allows partners privileged access to NATO-only ministerial meetings and exercises.
Responding to subsequent questions I posed to him by e-mail, Ambassador Shevchenko elaborated, offering the following:
- The EOP status gets us closer to full NATO membership and it helps us to build a stronger Ukraine.
- If it joins this program, Ukraine may be involved in NATO’s operational planning for crisis response and intelligence sharing, and it will expand the opportunities for Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen to participate in multinational military exercises and to hold positions in the alliance’s international command and staff structures.
He added that there are also obvious benefits for NATO if Ukraine joins EOP.
- Ukraine could increase contribution to NATO operations, sharing and exploiting operational lessons from the Joint Forces operations Ukraine – including in the cyber/hybrid domain, as well as contributing to Black Sea security. EOP status for Ukraine will strengthen European security.
- Ukraine will also be able to more easily exchange intelligence information. For example, if Ukraine had the EOP in January, we could have shared information on PS752 (the UIA plane) much faster and more efficiently.
“Among the NATO members, there is a growing commitment to this decision, based on understanding that Ukraine meets all the criteria necessary to participate in this program. Both the U.S. and Canada clearly support EOP for Ukraine. There is also very strong and passionate support across Eastern and Central Europe (set aside the special case of Hungary). We hope to see a thoughtful, mature consensus on the matter among the NATO countries, as it something of a clear benefit for the Alliance,” Mr. Shevchenko added.
When asked a similar question within the framework of an Atlantic Council webinar on Ukraine’s foreign policy, Andriy Zagorodniuk, Ukraine’s defense minister from August 2019 to March 2020, stated: “I raised the idea with the ministers of defense from NATO countries during a ministerial meeting in Brussels in February 2020. The majority of countries were pro-EOP. Some have raised this matter as contingent on ongoing reforms, which we were happy to accept… The chances of resuming meetings of the Ukraine-NATO Commission are reasonably high and subject to a positive outcome of the Ukraine-Hungary presidential bilateral. All requirements of the Venice Commission, regarding Hungarian minorities, were fulfilled by Ukraine. If Ukraine shows good reform progress and articulates it well, there should be no lack of support for EOP.”
Enhancing Ukraine’s relationship with NATO is a crucial matter when we are faced with rapacious Russian aggression. We should be grateful that both the Canadian and the U.S. governments are doing their best to help facilitate this relationship and encourage them to continue and expand upon this path.
Marco Levytsky may be contacted at [email protected].