(B2) Security and defense cooperation is an important point says Viktor Klimkin, Ukrainian Foreign Minister. Let's see this in detail, with him, and his spokesperson...
Negotiations for a new Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union have been completed. And a draft agreement was initialed on March 30. A small feat for the signatories, it was necessary to initial each of the almost 1500 pages of the text (1). After this feat, Pavlo Klimkin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator on the Ukrainian side, answered a few questions from journalists at the Brussels Europe Press Club. B2 was there. And our interest was of course more
The “European perspective”, a unlocking factor?
This agreement should allow more cooperation with the European CSDP. In any case, this is what Mr. Klimkin's spokesperson told us. " We have lots of ideas about it, the deputy minister said. " Ukraine will be very active in CSDP activities ". The signing of the agreement constitutes a step, almost a condition, for studying the avenues of cooperation between Ukraine and the European Defense Agency (EDA). Nothing specific to get your teeth into at the moment though.
Participation in EU NAVFOR Atalanta: phantom project, postponed for lack of budget?
As far as operations are concerned, Atalanta could be a priority for Ukraine, the spokesperson told us. The Deputy Minister also mentioned the EU's anti-piracy operation and recalled the latest project: the provision of a reconnaissance aircraft (an Antonov An-26). This idea is not new, and was delayed by "obstacles that are not related to Ukraineaccording to V. Klimkin.
The plane could be deployed in October 2012, according to Vasily Filipchuk, director of the political department of the Ukrainian foreign ministry. In reality, the reasons for the delay are essentially financial, since the common financing mechanism for military missions, Athena, cannot apply to a non-member state. Moreover, Ukraine's defense budget is not necessarily sufficient to "absorb" such a commitment, even if Ukraine has been increasing it considerably lately: +30% announced for 2012. Which represents "only » 1,1% of GNP and an amount 6 times lower than that of its Polish neighbour.
The idea of Ukrainian participation in this operation has been accepted for a long time, the COPS having endorsed it in March 2010 (read the article: COPS accepts Ukrainian participation in EUNAVFOR Atalanta). And Ukraine is already participating in this mission, but in a reduced way, with ... an officer seconded to the operational headquarters in Northwood. Still no ship (this is the case for Norway, another non-member state participating in the operation), even if the idea had been launched several times (in particular the flagship of their navy, the flagship destroyer Hetman Sagaydachniy). We understand Ukraine's interest in this mission, its ships and sailors not being spared by pirates. In 2008, the capture by pirates of the freighter "Fajna", its sailors and its load of weapons had persuaded the Ukrainians of the need to engage. Also read: The participation of Ukrainians in Atalanta becomes clearer.
A special status of non-aligned country
Ukraine has a particular international status, that of a “non-bloc” state, non-aligned in a way. A position that prohibits any formal integration into a military alliance (NATO in particular). This is not an obstacle, according to the deputy minister: This will in no way hinder our participation in CSDP activities ". This position remains rather vague. It would seem that this is a position that is more theoretical than practical, but which allows Ukraine to choose on a case-by-case basis, “à la carte” in a way. The spokesman, by the way, admitted that Ukraine will participate where "its strategic interests" are in question. So Somalia, for example. We are also thinking of neighboring regions, even if there, the Russian neighbor will be taken into consideration.
... but sustained cooperation with NATO
This status does not actually prevent Ukraine from cooperating with NATO, by organizing joint exercises but also at the political level through regular meetings. It even participates actively in some of its missions: Afghanistan (ISAF) - as before in Iraq (training only), Mediterranean (operation Active Endeavor, where Ukraine deploys a ship every year)... It also participates in many UN peacekeeping missions (Ivory Coast, Sudan, Liberia, etc.). The only downside is that its contribution to European missions is less significant.
An uneven cooperation with the CSDP
Cooperation more specifically with the EU has had its ups and downs. However, things seemed to be on the right track after the election of Viktor Yushchenko in 2004. Ukraine had signed an agreement in 2005 for the exchange of confidential information, and from the same year was able to align itself with common positions of the EU (a mechanism traditionally applied to candidate countries). According to an official report published by the Ukrainian authorities in March 2010, Ukraine had aligned itself with 90% of the common positions so far. However, since the election of new President Victor Yanoukovich in February 2010, things have changed.
Partial alignment with European positions
In 2010, Ukraine only aligned with 26 out of 44 of the EU common positions. As far as operations are concerned, apart from Atalanta (where the contribution remains quite meager today), Ukraine is part of the EUBAM Moldavia mission (border assistance) - which it partly hosts on its soil - as well as the EUPM mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (police) - which is in the closing phase. In the second half of 2, it took part in the batgroup HELBROC, led by the Greeks (along with Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus).
A rather limited contribution to the CSDP
For now, the contribution very active of Ukraine to CSDP activities therefore seems quite limited in reality. In addition to the budgetary question, one of the major points of disagreement also seems to be political. The position of the European Union, vis-à-vis Belarus, does not please kyiv too much. Ukraine had also refused in February 2011 to join the declaration of the Visegrad group against the regime.
Comments : Ukraine remains an important security and defense partner for the EU among its eastern neighbours. And certainly more and more. Its status as a non-aligned country does not mean that it is neutral. The European Union should then ensure that Ukrainian non-neutrality is oriented rather towards the West...
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
This agreement succeeds the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) signed in 1998. It should be officially signed in the autumn, then ratified by each of the parties, which should take a few more years. Contrary to what Ukraine wanted, and which was mentioned initially, it does not mention a "European perspective" of membership for the country. As a Commission spokesperson said, the Association Agreement will bring Ukraine as close as possible to the EU, based on the key principles of economic integration and political association, but it does not prejudge future developments in relations between Ukraine and the EU.
(Updated: clarification on the notion of the conclusion of the negotiations of the association agreement, and not its signature)
