On 10-12 February 2014, NATO Parliamentary delegation headed by President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Hugh Bayley is on a working visit to Kyiv to participate in a NATO-Ukraine Interparliamentary Council meeting.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly delegation consists of members of parliaments of Great Britain, France, Portugal, Bulgaria, Norway, Croatia, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Spain, Italy and Turkey.

On 10 February, the first day of the Interparliamentary Council meeting focused on the implementation of the Annual National Program of NATO-Ukraine cooperation for 2013, its political, military and defence aspects, as well as the current political developments in Ukraine.

NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Hugh Bayley stated that Ukraine had chosen a European model of development. According to him, on the one side it represents a choice of freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, democracy, fair elections, equal rights and opportunities. On the other side, it represents rejection of corruption and selective justice, etc.

Hugh Bayley also stressed that NATO PA upholds any dialogues between the political forces, since its absence “leads to confrontation and hostility.” While expressing concerns about political situation in Ukraine, he called on all parties to the conflict to resume peaceful discussion of the country’s future.

The second day of the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Interparliamentary Council is planned to be held in a wider format with the participation of scientists, NGOs, businesses and the media.

NATO Parliamentary Assembly President also intends to meet with representatives of parliamentary factions, government officials, ambassadors of NATO Member States, public and the media.

For reference: NATO-Ukraine Interparliamentary Council was established in 2003 under the provisions of the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between NATO and Ukraine (signed on 9 July 1997), in which, inter alia, the mechanisms of bilateral relations between Ukraine and the Alliance are defined. The main task of the Council is to promote at a parliamentary level the proper performance of the Annual National Programme of NATO-Ukraine cooperation, as well as to analyse its implementation.

NATO-Ukraine Interparliamentary Council consists of representatives from each of the committees of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and representatives of various factions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Koshulynskyi and President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Hugh Bayley co-chair the Interparliamentary Council.

 

Information by the Press Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariat:

Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Koshulynskyi “Programme of Ukraine-NATO cooperation is a transformational tool concerning not military but civil aspects, including domestic policy of Ukraine”

Meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council was held in the Verkhovna Rada

NATO PA Press Release

NATO Parliamentarians urge Ukraine’s leaders to seize window of opportunity as tensions rise