Foreign policy debate draws top policymakers

On March 11, the International Centre for Policy Studies and the Institute of World Policy held a high-level roundtable discussion on the future of Ukraine’s foreign policy. The event drew top policymakers, including former foreign minister Borys Tarasyuk and Verkhovna Rada deputies Oleksiy Loghvunenko and Sergiy Shevchuk, leading Ukrainian experts, and the Ambassadors of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Romania and Serbia, as well as other top diplomats.

With no issue off-limits, experts and policymakers engaged in lively discussion on the major challenges facing Ukraine today, from relations with the European Union to the need for reform. The question of relations with Russia led to particularly candid and constructive exchanges between experts, deputies, and the representative of the Russian Federation. Mykhailo Honchar (Director of Energy Programs, Nomos Center) and Oleksandr Lytvynenko (Advisor to the Director, Institute of National Security Issues, National Security Council of Ukraine (NSC) ) also led vigorous and concrete debates on energy and security policy, respectively.

Discussions centred on A New Foreign Policy for Ukraine: Four Strategic Priorities, an ICPS/IWP brief aimed at the new President, and A New Foreign Policy for Ukraine: Expert Perspectives, a book designed to inform the debate ahead. The former, which contains targeted recommendations for President Yanukovych and his foreign policy team, will be converted into non-papers for use by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To assist in this process, ICPS and IWP will, over the coming months, hold a series of thematic consultations with key experts and policymakers. For further information on these events, be sure to visit our website over the next few weeks.

A New Foreign Policy for Ukraine: Four Strategic Priorities can be downloaded at http://www.icps.com.ua/files/articles/55/81/NFP_15_Eng_for_site.pdf.

A New Foreign Policy for Ukraine: Expert Perspectives can be downloaded at http://www.icps.com.ua/files/articles/55/80/Uniter_ENG_for_site.pdf