The capital of Ukraine is going to host the 4th Kyiv Security Forum (KSF), “New Security in a Fragmented World and its European Dimension,” on November 11-12. The forum is held annually in early November by the Arsenii Yatseniuk Foundation, as part of the Discover Ukraine campaign. This year the event is being held in financial partnership with Chatham House (Great Britain), the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation (Ukraine), the Marshall Fund’s Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, and the NATO Information and Documentation Center, as well as in media partnership with the newspaper Den/The Day and the UNIAN new agency. Out of the several forums held in Ukraine, the KSF enjoys a permanent status — the Arsenii Yatsenuik Foundation regularly arranges these forums to discuss the security problems this country is facing. The KSF has already become a platform to debate on the most urgent security problems in Europe and the Black Sea region. This event attracts well-known politicians, experts, businessmen, and civil society and mass media personalities from all over the world. This year the Kyiv Security Forum will be attended by the ambassadors of Canada and Austria, as well as the Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in Vienna, Marie Gervais-Vidricaire. She was one of the 12 independent international experts, popularly referred to as the “Group of Wise Men,” who began last summer, at the request of NATO secretary general, to draw up recommendations on NATO’s new strategic concept. Last May the experts finished their analysis and submitted a report to the alliance’s secretary general. What role is NATO going to play in the future? Is there a need of a new European collective security system? This is the subject of an exclusive interview with Ms. GERVAIS-VIDRICAIRE.
Ms. Gervais-Vidricaire, we can periodically hear statements from Ukrainian officials that Ukraine may play an important role in creating the new European collective security system. But many experts say that there is no need for creating new security structure in Europe, given that there is such a system of collective security as NATO. What do you think about this?
I agree that the existing security organizations, such as NATO and the OSCE, provide the necessary institutional framework to ensure securtiy in Europe. Having said this, everything can be improved and it is important that all interested states provide ideas on how to improve the system.
In your opinion, what role can the Kyiv Security Forum play in increasing the security of Europe and Ukraine?
“Conferences such as the Kyiv Security Forum provide important venues for experts, academics, diplomats and other stakeholders to debate on important security issues and to facilitate a better common understanding of goals and objectives.”
On November 20 NATO will endorse a new Strategic Concept. Nobody has seen it yet. But we hear from different experts that NATO does not have such a Strategic Concept. This is notably seen in Marko Papic’s article in Stratfor. Is it really the case that NATO does not have a Strategic Concept?
“NATO adopted a Strategic Concept in 1999. It has become a tradition to review it more or less every 10 years. NATO’s secretary general was asked by NATO Allies to prepare a draft new Strategic Concept in the Spring of 2009. It is in this context that the secretary general established a group of 12 independent experts in August 2010. The group, to which I had the privilege of belonging, was tasked with providing input in the form of analysis and recommendations with respect to the New Strategic Concept that should guide NATO in the coming decade. In May 2010, the group submitted its report entitled ‘NATO 2020: Assured Security; Dynamic Engagement’ to the secretary general. The secretary general used this document to prepare his own draft which is currently being discussed in Brussels by NATO delegations. The goal is to achieve consensus on a New Strategic Concept at the upcoming NATO Summit meeting in Lisbon on November 11-12.”
At the end of the Stratfor article the author suggests that incompatible perceptions of global threats by member states mean that “the November Summit in Lisbon is in fact the beginning of the end for NATO.” What would you say about this? Is NATO becoming irrelevant?
“Since its foundation in 1949, NATO has been the most successful military alliance that has ever existed. Although the Cold War context that prevailed at the time of its creation is over, NATO remains extremely important to the collective security of its members because it provides an essential mechanism to respond to new security threats such as terrorism.”
In your opinion, what role can and should NATO play in the future, and should it include Russia, as some former German generals and politicians suggest?
“NATO continues to ensure the collective security of its members. The NATO of the 21st century has to be able to respond to the new security challenges that can come from anywhere, as it was the case with Afghanistan. Our group of experts believes that partnership is the key to enable NATO to work in an efficient manner in responding to new threats. Our report emphazises the relevance of existing partnerships with a number of countries and organizations and highlights the importance of strengthening these partnerships. In this respect, the NATO-Russia relations are certainly very important. Our report describes the ways to improve the NATO-Russia partnership by making better use, for example, of the NATO-Russia Council. The report also recommends that the New Strategic Concept should reaffirm the Open Door Policy which provides certain criteria for the possible admission of new members.”
How can Russia be engaged in a constructive European security dialogue? What should it do to gain trust and become a NATO ally?
“The framework for the NATO-Russia partnership was spelled out in the 1997 Founding Act and the 2002 Declaration signed in Rome. As indicated in our report, ‘both documents express a commitment to idenify and to pursue opportunities for joint actions based on mutual interests and the understanding that security in the Euro-Atlantic region is indivisible. Cooperation is pledged in, among other areas, counter-terrorism, crisis management, arms control and non-proliferation, anti-missile defence, and responding to new threats. The NATO-Russia Council provides a forum for consultation, transparency, consensus-building, and making and implementing decisions.’”
