Prospects for future cooperation between the Naval Forces of Ukraine and those of NATO countries were discussed last week in Sevastopol by representatives of the General Headquarters of the Naval Forces of Ukraine and experts of the Headquarters of NATO Allied Forces in the Atlantic. Head of the NATO delegation of experts Wolfgang Herman told Interfax Ukraine that the meeting’s main topic was adapting Ukrainian naval structures to the alliance’s standard. In his words, today Ukrainian military needs to first of all change its way of thinking. In Mr. Herman’s opinion, the Sevastopol meeting drew the sides closer to solving this problem. In the words of representative of the General Headquarters of the Naval Forces of Ukraine Andriy Ryzhenko, the need for adapting to NATO standards is explained primarily by the recently increased volume of interaction with the navies of not only alliance countries but also those already adapted to NATO standards. Mr. Ryzhenko admitted that adapting Ukrainian naval structures to the standards of North Atlantic Treaty Organization will require not only financing but overcoming certain mental stereotypes.
