NATO to reform Ukraine assistance system
According to an agreement regarding the new format of cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, the Alliance will be reforming its system for providing assistance to Ukraine, Eurointegration reports.
During a visit to NATO’s headquarters on October 25, Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodniuk announced that NATO and Ukraine have decided on a new format of relations, which will soon be adopted. Among other things, the changes will affect NATO’s system for providing assistance to Ukraine.
According to Eurointegration, the Alliance audited its assistance to Ukraine this year and concluded that its administration consumes a disproportionately large amount of funds and makes it harder to coordinate other projects. Moving forward, all of these programs and cooperation formats will be united under a single umbrella.
“We currently have trust funds, programs as part of separate initiatives, such as Building Integrity, the Defense Education Enhancement Program, the Professional Development Program, the Science for Peace and Security program, cooperation through the general staff, cooperation with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, cooperation with the allied commander in Europe, cooperation with special forces, on strategic air transportation, and the like,” explained Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yehor Bozhok.
He noted that soon these spheres of activity will be “packaged” as a single plan for cooperation with the Alliance. He added that the Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine has been in place since 2016, but now it will have a unified secretariat in Brussels and in Kyiv. Ukraine will now determine its own assistance priorities.