20 July 2021, 09:39
Ukraine should revise the Association Agreement with the EU not only in the economic but also in the security area - Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze
The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU took
part in the Razumkov Center's discussion on the prospects for the
development of the Ukraine-EU security partnership.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze noted that she was quite skeptical about
serious and thorough cooperation between Ukraine and the EU in the
field of security, taking into account several factors. First, there
was a slowdown in the dynamics of the EU security program PESCO. This
Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) Program was established in
2017 in response to the security challenges. Participation in PESCO is
voluntary. So far, 25 EU countries have joined it. At the same time,
according to the Chair of the Committee, with the change of
administration in the United States, the dynamics of work within PESCO
in the EU has decreased, and instead the intensification of cooperation
within NATO is revitalised.
“Ukraine should set ambitious goals for itself if PESCO continues to
develop - not only to be a recipient of certain programs that are
created in the European Union, but to try to become the one who forms
the security component of cooperation with the EU. I do not see any
systematic efforts from Ukraine in this direction, as well as no
special appetite in the EU,” Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said. At the
same time, according to the Chair of the Committee, Ukraine's main
efforts should be focused on cooperation with NATO and Euro-Atlantic
integration.
The Chair of the Committee is also convinced that the Eastern
Partnership is not the format in which security cooperation with the EU
could be developed: “Attempts to include a security component in this
format have always met resistance from the European Union. There has
never been a readiness in this area, and there is still no readiness to
deepen the Eastern Partnership in this direction. The European Union is
approaching security cooperation with the countries on the eastern
flank quite cautiously”.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze welcomed the decision of the associated trio
countries - Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to outline their intentions
for EU integration. “It is good that the three countries see the need
to join forces and institutionalize their cooperation, but at the same
time, I do not see an appetite on the part of the European Union to
respond fully, capaciously and objectively to this request. In order
for this to happen, Ukraine has to work not only with the European
Commission and the European Council, but also with specific member
states. I do not see such work yet,” the Chair of the Committee said.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze is convinced that the Association Agreement
with the EU also does not fully reveal the needs for cooperation in the
field of security and defence. “When we have the opportunity to revise
the Agreement, there should be an ambition to improve the part related
to security and defence cooperation. There is no such ambition. The
government has decided to focus exclusively on economic indicators,
which, of course, need to be updated. But the security part of the
dialogue is not currently taking place between Ukraine and the EU,” the
Chair of the Committee stated.
She also reminded that in the implementation of security and defence
projects the institutional capacity of the state is fundamental.
According to Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, the institutional capacity has
started to deteriorate in Ukraine today. “The number of staff in the
Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic
Cooperation is now reduced from 54 to 36 or 38 people. If anyone thinks
that in this context it is possible to seriously work on the
implementation the Association Agreement, I am convinced that it is
not. Resources, financial instruments, ambitions and institutional
capacity are the elements, that are needed for us to advance in
security, military and defence cooperation with the EU,” the Head of
the Committee summed up.