The organizers of the event invited specialists on state security and international relations representing 22 countries in Europe, Asia and America to come to Lviv and participate in the international forum “From Ukraine’s to Europe’s security. Challenges of the 21st Century.” The two-day discussion that will take place in April 15-16 should result in professional recommendations for the politicians of the countries that are members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe regarding security guarantees in Central-Eastern Europe.
“This is one of the first Ukrainian public initiatives in the security area, making it very important,” affirmed the head of the forum’s organizing committee, doctor of political sciences Oleksandr Lytvynenko.
“Its topicality is supported by the feedback this initiative got in the community of international experts: authoritative diplomats and security specialists from all countries of Europe, as well as from Russia and the USA will come to Lviv in order to participate in the discussion.”
The organizers believe that the participation of the Chinese delegation headed by Ambassador Li Felling, who has a forty-year long diplomatic experience connected with Russia and Eastern Europe, is also symbolic. Among the participants of the forum is an expert from Chatham House Andrew Wood, the head of board of the Euro-Atlantic Association of Poland and one of the organizers and representative of the Solidarity movement Janusz Onyszkiewicz, the head of the All-parties parliament group on Ukrainian issues in the British parliament John Grogan, Central-Eastern Europe director of the German Marshall Fund in Bratislava Pavol Demes, head of the board of the Foundation “Russian Public and Political Center” Aleksandr Muzykantsky, ex-prime-minister, ex-minister of defense and ex-head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Yevhen Marchuk, program director of Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) Jiri Schneider, editor-in-chief of The Day Larysa Ivshyna and others.
The idea of holding the security forum was initiated by leading Ukrainian state, governmental and public activists on December 4, 2009 – on the 15th anniversary of signing the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurance in connection with Ukraine’s joining the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
As a member of the forum’s supervisory board, political scientist Taras Vozniak told The Day, “organizers see the main purpose of the event in drawing attention to the fact that after being assured in Budapest that the security of Ukraine is guaranteed provided that Ukraine would get rid of nuclear weapons, we got a sheet of paper that was not filled with a real content. At present the world is rapidly developing, the geopolitical constellation is constantly changing, and in this stormy sea Ukraine needs certain guarantees. As we know, Ukraine is located between two huge geopolitical platforms. One of them is the Tashkent Treaty, and the second one is Euro-Atlantic structures. And Ukraine is in the middle. Ukraine cooperates with NATO and houses a base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, complicating the situation even further. In view of this, sober political elites in Ukraine try to attract the attention of the global society to the fact that, in the center of Europe, there is an indefinite, gray zone which is actually not just endangered itself, but also constitutes a certain threat for the stability of Europe and the world in general. At this the Ukrainian government, now embodied in the person of President Yanukovych, started talking about the neutral status of Ukraine, an utterly nonsensical idea for those knowing at least a little about international security. Firstly, the neutral status of Ukraine would have to be ensured. Secondly, neutral status is a very costly thing which Ukraine in no way can afford. Third, neutral status is an agreement of all partners surrounding us, starting with the Russian Federation and finishing with Ireland, with the fact that we have this status and they accept it. And besides, what neutral status can one talk about if there are foreign military formations on the territory of Ukraine? Lviv International Security Forum should direct attention to all the questions mentioned above.”
