Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Ihor Dolhov, who
will be speaking at the Nov. 29 Kyiv Post Tiger Conference, says the country’s
plan to reform in line with NATO standards contains some 600 items.
U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry (L) talks with Ukrainian's then-NATO ambassador
Ihor Dolhov (R) and US Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute during a Foreign Affairs
ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Dec. 2, 2014. (AFP)
Photo by AFP
In an interview with the
Kyiv Post, Dolhov said work on the plan is progressing “day-to-day” and
involves a vast number of people from both the U.S.-led military alliance and
from within Ukraine. Dolhov will be participating in the security & defense
part of the Kyiv Post conference at the Kyiv Hilton Hotel. Details of the
conference are here.
“We have a work plan
comprised of roughly 600 points. It’s a huge amount of work and it cannot be
done by one office. That’s why the ministers established the committee for
reforms, whose main task is to look to the future,” Dolhov said. “It is an
open-ended organization and structure. Which involves not only the committee
for reforms but also volunteers, our advisers from NATO and some members of
parliament.”
Last summer, Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko set 2020 as a deadline for reaching NATO standards.
But even if that goal is achieved, experts say because of the ongoing war in
eastern Ukraine with Russian-backed militants, actual membership in the the
alliance is likely to prove elusive.
Currently, there is no
consensus among NATO members about whether Ukraine should be able to join the
club.
“There is an illusion
that if Ukraine only implements all the NATO standards, then has a referendum,
then makes an official political application, then Ukraine will eventually get
this membership action plan and enter NATO,” according to Andreas Umland, a
senior research fellow at Institute for Euro-Atlantic Сooperation in Kyiv. “I think once the conflict with
Russia is over, if there’s a regime change or policy re-orientation in Moscow,
then Ukraine has a chance again. But then, in a way, Ukraine won’t need NATO
membership that much anymore.”
However, in the
Ukrainian capital, officials disagree.
“Of course we can join,”
Dolhov told the Kyiv Post.
The deputy minister
points to growth in the size of Ukraine’s armed forces as a sign of progress.
He also says the increase in career or “contract” soldiers, and the
corresponding decrease in the use of conscription, is positive.
“We’ve delivered
already,” he said. “With the assistance of NATO and by doing it ourselves. Look
at the figures. Before the aggression, the Ukrainian army was 150,000 strong,
now its 250,000. It’s almost doubled. And look at the number of those who have
signed contracts. The army is growing more and more professional.”
When asked by the Kyiv
Post if he feels confident the country will make the 2020 deadline, Dolhov
refused to give a definitive answer. “Well, I feel that it’s..a lot of work,”
he said.
Paradigm shift
Although Russia’s war
against the Donbas has driven improvements in the military sphere, elsewhere
there are still deeply-rooted barriers which need to be overcome. Chief among
them is the unwillingness of Ukrainian individuals and institutions to open up to
Western partners.
“Reforms are painful.
They are really painful and people from the West, we should understand this.
That to change from ‘the good old ways’ means sacrifices. It means leaving your
comfort zone in a big way,” Ove Urup-Madsen, a program manager at the NATO
Liaison Office in Ukraine, told the Kyiv Post.
“So when we from the Western
side, from NATO, are advocating NATO standards and things that they don’t
understand, it seems like this huge monster.”
For progress to be made,
Urup-Madsen believes there needs to be a fundamental change of mindset from
those at the top. Executives and managers need to learn to better delegate
authority and stop seeing the next generation as a threat to their own
positions.
“I see super, super
smart people, from the ages of 23 to 35. This is what is going to carry this
country in a short few years. They ask the right questions, they are motivated
and they work hard but they are just not given access,” he said.
Time will tell
Ukraine has a little
over three years left to meet its target of attaining NATO standards. Officials
from both sides suggest big challenges remain if that goal is to be achieved,
but also stress that expecting results to come quickly would be a mistake.
“If you want to do
anything in Ukraine, you’re here for the long haul. It’s not going to be done
in one or two years,” says Urup-Madsen. “If you don’t have the patience for
that, don’t even start. Let other people do it who are here for the duration.”
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