In Chernihiv, Ukraine’s achievements were discussed in the European and Euro -Atlantic direction

On February 5, 2009, the Polissya Foundation for International and Regional Studies, together with the Department of Internal Policy of the Chernihiv Regional Administration, held a round table on the topic: “European and Euro -Atlantic integration of Ukraine: 2009 achievements”. The event was conducted by the project implementation “European meetings in Polissya»With the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.

Representatives of public authorities, public sector, and journalists took part in the work of the roundtable. The special invited participant of the event was the director of the Coordination Bureau of the European and Euro -Atlantic Integration of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Vadim Trukhan.

In his report on the state and prospects of European and Euro -Atlantic integration of Ukraine, V. Truhan focused on those myths that distort the real information picture in the field of European integration. In particular, the head of the coordination institution managed to convince the attendees that the myths about the institutional crisis of the European Union, the harmfulness of the free trade area with the EU for the Ukrainian economy, as well as the unpromising for Ukraine of the Eastern Partnership do not withstand any comparison with reality.

In 2008-2009, the European Union dialogue with Ukraine was significantly intensified, which could be evidenced by the effectiveness of the negotiation process in the preparation of a new EU and Ukraine agreement in the form of an Association Agreement. In November 2009, a new Procedure of the EU-EU Association came into force, and significant success in sectoral cooperation with the European Union was made.

The critics, according to V. Truhan, and social stereotypes towards NATO, do not withstand. However, the reason for this may be the lack of awareness of the population of Ukraine about the North Atlantic Alliance and the form of cooperation with Ukraine.

In general, according to the director of the Coordination Bureau, the integration of Ukraine into the European and Euro -Atlantic civilizational space with the simultaneous development of dynamic relations with other powerful world players will help our country to adapt to global changes and to take a worthy place on the world stage.

According to Oleg Miroshnichenko, the Analytics on European Integration of the International Center for Perspective Research, Ukraine has more attention to pay attention to the experience of Central and Eastern Europe and Western Balkans to implement the EU Association Agreements. The research expert indicated that many of the normative and institutional forms of European integration of these countries can be effectively used in Ukraine.

Yuriy Muzyk, Deputy Head of the Department of Internal Policy of Chernihiv Regional State Administration, continuing the opinion of the previous speakers, stressed the need for a comprehensive approach to the proper information of the public on European and Euro -Atlantic integration of Ukraine. In the Chernihiv region, the relevant structures of public authorities carry out work on dissemination of information on integration processes in accordance with state programs. At the same time, the focus of attention is currently the question of educational work at the level of areas of the region in rural areas. In this context, a regional program of information on European and Euro -Atlantic integration was developed with the involvement of the opportunities of NGOs and entrepreneurs.

According to Yuri Vdovenko, the Vice President of the Polissya Fund, the heads of the Chernihiv Regional Branch of the Ukrainian Association of European Studies, the European Integration of Ukraine should also be considered through the prism of integration of Ukrainian regions into the relevant European regional structures. Currently, the situation with the acquisition of membership of the regions of Ukraine in such associations is unsatisfactory.

In his speech, President of the NGO “Euroclub” in his speech emphasized the attention of the audience on the need to intensify the work on the coverage of European and Euro -Atlantic topics within the framework of the activities of school Euroclubs. Despite the fact that in a large part of the Chernihiv secondary schools, Euroclubs have been created, the attitude towards teachers is quite light and formal. Therefore, working with school youth should be a priority for the agenda of the public in informing Ukraine with the EU and NATO.

Summarizing the discussion, the President of the Polissya Fund Gennady Maxak noted the importance of uniting the efforts of the authorities and the public in building an effective information and educational campaign that could improve the level of public support of the state course for rapprochement with the European Union.