Helping Ukraine Choose Its Own Destiny

On August 19, 2009, Embassy, Canada’s foreign policy newsweekly, published an article by Volodymyr Khandogiy, acting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, dealing with the Ukrainian-Canadian relations on the eve of the 18^th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence.

On August 24, Ukraine celebrates its Day of Independence. Eighteen years ago, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted the historic Declaration of Independence, which later received support from more than 90 per cent of Ukrainians at the people’s referendum held on Dec. 1, 1991.

Today, when recalling this prominent moment in Ukraine’s history, no one doubts it had a major impact on democratic  development on the European continent. The declaration of Ukraine’s independence marked a victory for democracy, freedom of expression and the right of the people to choose their own destiny, against possible restoration of totalitarian regimes and ideology.

The contemporary history of Ukraine shows our commitment to sharing and protecting the common values and responsibilities of  the European family. Our country is actively promoting the development of a market economy, application of the rule of law, and maintenance of peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic space. Ukraine has chosen its future once and forever: full-scale membership in the European Union and NATO. Many steps remain to be taken to achieve these ambitious goals, but the progress and accomplishments to date confirm the rightness and irreversibility of our chosen path.

At the Bucharest Summit in April 2008, heads of state and government of NATO member-countries clearly declared that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance. This was again confirmed at the NATO Summit held this year in Strasbourg and Kehl. Recent approval by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko of the first Annual National Program for Ukraine’s NATO membership became a new important step in the implementation of our Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

Ukraine is the only NATO partner country that continues to participate in all NATO-led operations. We are continuing to support the ISAF in Afghanistan, KFOR in Kosovo, the NATO Training Mission in Iraq, as well as Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean. Ukraine is willing to extend security co-operation with the alliance in new areas, and we are considering our involvement in the alliance’s cyber defence activities and the fight against piracy.

Ukraine highly appreciates the civil aspects of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO. While striving to attain NATO membership criteria, our priority is to continue making significant contributions to the Euro-Atlantic security.

Integration into the European Union has been among Ukraine’s main foreign policy objectives since its independence. This course has become a true national idea, which unites all leading political forces of Ukraine.

These days, we are witnessing a number of historical achievements in the Ukraine-EU relations. Since early 2007, Ukraine has been negotiating an Association Agreement with the European Union. This document should become an important step towards full-fledged membership. This agreement, which can be concluded before the end of 2009, will provide for the creation of a free trade area between Ukraine and the EU. In conformity with last year’s accession to the World Trade Organization, the free trade area will facilitate further integration of the Ukrainian economy into the European market, as well as into the world economy. Fruitful political dialogue with the EU is complemented with active development of bilateral trade. Last year, its volume exceeded $60 billion and made up 32 per cent of Ukraine’s foreign trade, which ranks the EU at the top among the trading partners of Ukraine.

Ukraine is one of the biggest countries in Europe, with a sound industrial base, rich farmlands, a highly-trained labour force and an advanced education system. Until recently, Ukraine belonged to a group of countries with the highest economic growth indicators. Unprecedented challenges in the world economy emerged last year, hitting Ukraine hard as well.

Notwithstanding the effect of the global economic crisis, which caused a reduction of Ukraine’s GDP, our economy, particularly metallurgical and chemical sectors, is gradually rebounding. We hope that the world economic system will successfully pass this test and come out of it even stronger and better equipped to deal with new challenges.

There are ample opportunities for investment in Ukraine. Among the most profitable fields are the high-tech sector, air and space industries, mechanical engineering, light industry, and agriculture (Ukraine has almost 30 per cent of the world’s black soil). Currently, Ukraine is getting ready to host the 2012 European Football Championship—Euro 2012. Preparations for this exceptional event entail implementation of numerous projects such as building new roads, stadiums, hotels and other elements of infrastructure, which creates unique opportunities for a large-scale investment.

Speaking about the 18th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, one cannot but mention that Canada was the first Western country to recognize it on Dec. 2, 1991—the day after the historic referendum. Since then, Canada has been providing a great deal of support to Ukraine in building democracy, developing state institutions and strengthening the market economy, particularly through technical assistance. Relations between our countries are rightfully referred to in bilateral documents as a Special Partnership. The state visit of President Yushchenko to Canada in May 2008 and the state visit of the governor general of Canada, Micha¸lle Jean, to Ukraine in April 2009 helps one grasp the dynamics of our political dialogue.

Our countries are linked not only by shared values and interests, but also by close historic, cultural and family ties. Four waves of immigration created a community of more than 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian origin. They contributed greatly to the deve-lopment of a strong and prosperous Canada while cherishing and preserving their Ukrainian heritage. Today they continue to play a prominent role in Canadian society, making a strong input in co-operation between our countries.

Over the past five years, our bila-teral trade has been steadily growing. It doubled last year and continued to increase in the first half of this year. We are also witnessing active development of co-operation in cultural, humanitarian, energy and many other spheres.

A number of impressive bilateral projects were initiated recently.

In June 2009, we signed a memorandum of co-operation between Odessa Sea Trade Port (Ukraine) and the Port of Halifax (Canada). It is aimed at expanding opportunities for importers and exporters in both countries through using Halifax’s capacities as a gateway port for Canada and North America as well as of the Port of Odessa as a gateway port for Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

Last fall we signed a memorandum of understanding between Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. and the Ukrainian Company Energoatom, which creates a framework for bilateral co-operation in the sphere of nuclear energy. That includes the introduction of CANDU technology in Ukraine and lays the foundation for joint scientific and research projects.

In July 2009, the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine signed a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian company SNC-Lavalin International Inc. on the development of joint energy projects in Ukraine.

We are also closely working on several projects in the aerospace sphere. These and many other bilateral programs demonstrate real potential of co-operation between Ukraine and Canada.

Since gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine has gone through a lot of changes. Most significant was completion of our transition from being a part of the totalitarian Soviet empire to an independent democratic state with a market economy. And we are happy that along this challenging way we were accompanied by our true friends, with Canada standing out among them.

Today, Ukraine is looking forward to the ever closer co-operation with our Canadian partners as well as with the NATO framework as its prospective member, to the benefit of our regions and peoples.