Rede auf der 46. Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz - 06.02.2010

Dear Ambassador Ischinger,
Dear Participants of the Conference,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

First of all let me thank the organizers for giving me an opportunity to offer my views on key problems of the European and global security.
The new comer issues to be discussed here in Munich are of high importance for Ukraine.
In the modern world, being a big European country, it is impossible to separate international and national security problems.
Global and European security issues are as much pressing for us as internal developments in the country. As you probably know, tomorrow, on February, 7, we will have a run-off of the Presidential elections. Its outcome will shape the Ukrainian internal and foreign policy for the next 5 years. No doubt, it will have some influence on the Situation fl the region as well. That is why let me start from saying few words in this regard.  
If to be very short, I am hope that this election will prove the irreversibility of democratic development of the country and irreversibility of its European choice.
The first round has demonstrated that, in spite of extreme competitiveness and hot political battles during the election campaign, Ukraine was able to keep high level electoral standards. This is the conclusion of both Ukrainian and international observers from EU countries and Russia. That is why I cannot agree with the position which presented in the conference materials that “The general elections in Ukraine could fuel antagonism between the Russia and the West“. On the contrary — I am confident after elections we will have more pragmatic relations with Russia.
According to the OSCE report, the election was of high quality and showed significant progress over previous elections. Civil and political rights were respected, including freedom of association and expression.
The election offered voters a genuine choice between candidates representing diverse political views. And the freedom of expression has significantly improved since 2004. Overall, the pluralistic media environment offered voters a variety of information about leading presidential candidates and their platforms.
I hope that the final OSCE conclusion on the quality of the election will be as much positive.
We believe that the transfer of power to a new President will be democratic, civilized and transparent, in strict compliance with European democratic-standards.
For the last years such practice has become inseparable norm of our political life.
Moreover, taking into account the present internal political situation, we have a chance to obtain for the next few years a very strong opposition that will become the best guarantee for continuation of the democratic development of the country.
I am optimistic as well about the stability of our foreign policy course. European and Euro-Atlantic integration goals are well embedded in the national legislation.
And even in the most controversial for some Ukrainian political forces issue - NATO membership — we have reached a political consensus how to proceed and how to decide. We need to do a lot to move country closer to EuroAtlantic standards. I am confident that the Annual National Programme on preparation of Ukraine towards NATO membership for 2010 approved two days ago by the Ukrainian President will be successfully implemented.
There is one more important national and regional security issue I would like to touch upon here — the Transnistrian problem. I am glad to inform you that recently we- have achieved some concrete results in this direction. I am talking about the beginning of the demarcation process of the Transnistrian part of the Ukrainian-Moldovan state border. I hope the process will continue. No doubt, ensuring of a proper border regime, prevention of illegal trafficking will contribute to the normalization of the situation in the region.
We understand that European security suffers from a deficit of trust. In this regard we support a constructive dialogue aimed at enhancing European security system. Ukraine is actively engaged in the discussions within the “Corfu process“, which was initiated in response to the Russian proposals presented in 2008. We hope it will enable the OSCE do become more instrumental and effective.
We provide our input into the discussions on a new NATO strategy. And we do our best to develop the security dimension of our cooperation with the EU. We share the idea of “indivisible, equal and undiminished security“ which our Russian colleagues putted into the basis of their proposals on a new European security treaty.
However, we need to remember that national capacities of different countries in the security sphere are very different. That is why it is essential to respect the inherent rights of any nation to choose its own way to guarantee its national security, including through the participation in the existing collective security structures.
Full respect to this principle, along with the real and not theoretical openness of regional security structures including NATO and EU provide the only realistic basis for any sort of “indivisible, equal and undiminished security“.

Ukraine, as well as majority of European nations shares the view that the present European security system, based on the OSCE, NATO and EU, reflects current realities and does not require any dramatic restructuring. Rather it requires resetting in sense of ensuring better implementation of the agreed principles and better compliance with the agreed obligations, legal and political alike.
NATO as the organization that has already proved its efficiency and it should continue to play the key role in safeguarding security in the Euro-Atlantic area.
We consider current Alliance‘s transformation and preparation of the new NATO Strategic Concept exactly in this light. We are confident that these changes should be aimed at making the Alliance better, stronger, more flexible and more efficient.
Let me remind you that Ukraine is still the only partner participating in all major NATO-led peace-keeping missions and operations — in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq and Mediterranean. And we plan to keep our active position regarding international security issues. We are sure that in the situation of increasing global interdependency it is the only way to guarantee our own security.
For us it is important that the new Strategic Concept supports the Alliance‘s active stance concerning the safeguarding of the international stability and security. We would also like NATO to remain open for European countries willing and capable of bearing the responsibility of Allies.
Along with finalization of the Association Agreement, one of our priorities in the relations with the EU is enhancement of cooperation within the framework of the ESDP, including through participation in the EU operations and missions.
Ukraine is involved in the EU Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and has recently taken a decision to join the EU NAVFOR Somalia — Operation Atalanta. The respective presidential decree was signed on January 20, 2010. Ukraine is considering the possibility of involving into the Operation Atalanta the Special Task Forces personnel in the form of the vessel detachment units and will be ready to send its contingent to the area of Operation as soon as all national legal procedures have been completed. In this regard I have invited the team of the EU NAVFOR Operation Headquarters to visit Kyiv in the near future to discuss details of Ukraine‘s participation in this operation.
There is one more security issue which importance crosses Ukraine‘s national borders — the problem of effectiveness of the security assurances provided to Ukraine 15 years ago under the Budapest Memorandum in response to Ukraine‘s decision to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Analysis of the present realities in Eastern Europe shows that these assurances cannot be considered sufficient since they are not complemented with the implementation mechanisms.
Today Ukraine remains the largest nation on the continent which is not yet involved in any existing defense alliances. Thus for the moment we have to resolve the security issues on our own. The development of the Budapest Memorandum instruments would not only help us to guarantee political and economic sovereignty of Ukraine. lt would also help to fill up the emerging security vacuum in the region and to consolidate the basis for global non-proliferation regime. At the same time, let me also make it crystal clear, we do not consider the developing of a new arrangement on security guarantees as an alternative to our Euro-Atlantic course.
And last but not least. We cannot limit our security cooperation to its politico-military aspects, to the so-called hard security. We should take due account of all existing dimensions, which are extremely important for ensuring security nowadays.
Energy security is one of the most pressures in this regard.
We believe that the implications of what has recently happened on the global energy market do require closer cooperation and coordination of efforts among key players there. Along with that we should promote a broad mix of energy sources trying to diversify suppliers, transport routes and transport mechanisms. lt can be successfully achieved if we capitalize on reliable partnerships between supplier, transit and consumer countries reducing the risks of energy dictatorship.
The changing global energy patterns require trust and confidence — the most important elements of the market sustainability, where we all can benefit in the win-win Situation regardless the current global crisis. Trust and confidence are needed also in all other areas of international security such as food and finance security, migration problems, and climate change.
For finding an adequate response we have to combine our efforts. Europe needs predictable and stabile Ukraine.
Regardless of numerous difficulties related to the development of adequate and effective mechanisms to ensure such quality of international relations, I believe that this task is achievable.

I hope our discussions in Munich will prove that I am not the only optimist in this regard.

Thank you for your attention.