The 19-th International week "NATO beyond the Brusseles summit and 21-st century challenges"

From the 1-st to 5-th of April in the National Defense University of Ukraine named after Ivan Cherniakhovskyi with the participation of NATO Defense College (Rome, Italy) and NATO School (Oberammergau, Germany) the 19-th International week “NATO beyond the Brussels summit and 21-st century challenges” has started.

The opening ceremony of the XIX International Week was attended by: Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for European Integration Anatoliy Petrenko, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Ukraine Judith Gough, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine Roman Washchuk, General Secretary of the International Military Staff (DGIMS) Lieutenant General Jan Broeks, Head of the NATO Delegation to Ukraine Oleksandr Vinnikov, representatives of the embassies, Defense Attaché Embassy of Great Britain, Canada, Lithuania, representatives of the International Staff and Headquarters Land Forces Command NATO, representatives of the Institute of Defense advisers at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and other honored guests.

The goal of the event is the demonstration of the importance of strong partnership between Ukraine and NATO as well as familiarization with main security challenges the Alliance and its partners are facing, informing the participants about past, current and future priorities and adaptation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and raising awareness of NATO as an international organization and its methods of work.

 “The NATO Week in Ukraine, which takes place in the leading military educational institution in Ukraine, allows us all to use the best practices and approaches of the Alliance for training of officers who will play a leading role in the implementation of the Euro-Atlantic course of the state, "said Deputy Defense Minister Anatoliy Petrenko.”

He expressed his gratitude to foreign partners who, from the first day of Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, provided comprehensive diplomatic, political, economic and military support to our country to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The Head of the NATO Delegation to Ukraine, Alexander Vinnikov, said that NATO highly values the cooperation within this educational project. For the nineteenth time the National Defense of Ukraine hold these meetings for important joint discussions on security issues.

“We guarantee that Britain will continue to stay with Ukraine and help strengthen security and defense institutions” – said Judith Gough, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Ukraine.

“There are strong ties between Canada and Ukraine. We perceive partnership with your state as a strategic one. Therefore, for the Canadian side, our participation in the International Week in Kiev is extremely important” – said Roman Vashchuk, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine.

Director of NATO's International Military Staff, Lieutenant-General Jan Brooks, emphasized that participating in the XIX-th International Week is a demonstration that its participants have shared values regarding the security environment.

Significantly, the XIX International Week takes place after the amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine on the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine. In addition, in the beginning of April, NATO will celebrate the 70th anniversary of its creation.