Ottawa, February 18th, 2021: On February 12th, 2021, the Parliamentary Centre and the Agency for Legislative Initiatives organized a seminar centred around the concepts of democratic accountability, good governance, and civilian oversight for a group of officials from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD) as a contribution to the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School’s (KMBS) Strategic Programme for the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. This leadership education program helps prepare MoD executives who will play an important role in defining the new culture of the ministry based on the standards and principles of organizations like NATO.
Ukraine has made Euro-Atlantic integration a key political objective, enshrining it in its Constitution. NATO standards and principles serve as key reference points for the reforms and transformative processes that are necessary to realize this goal. This includes civilian control of the military and effective democratic accountability of the defence sector. This session was designed to demystify some of these concepts and translate them into practical measures.
The Canadian Military Representative to NATO, LGen. Frances Allen, and the Political Director of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence, Vaidotas Urbelis, presented the experiences of both countries’ respective militaries. Jill Sinclair, Senior Executive at the Government of Canada & the Canadian representative on the Ukrainian Defence Reform Advisory Board, and Eden Cole, Senior Security Governance Expert, led an engaging dialogue in which participants discussed and identified how the experiences of Canada, Lithuania, and other nations are relevant and applicable to Ukraine.
The Parliamentary Centre is proud to be part of Canada’s support for Ukraine’s Euro- Atlantic integration process.
About PASS Ukraine
PASS Ukraine aims to promote peace and stability in Ukraine by supporting the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to play its central role in formulating, implementing, monitoring and reforming security policy. The project is possible with the support of the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (PSOPs) of Global Affairs Canada.
This is a significant initiative for Canada and Ukraine and we will continue to support Ukraine’s integration into Euro-Atlantic spheres.
Read more about PASS Ukraine here:
https://parlcent.org/our-programs/Europe
