On 6 August 2024, the High School launched a two-day information and educational online training ” School of NATO: NATO-Ukraine Relations: Current Status and Development Prospects”. The programme was attended by representatives of regional state administrations of Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Kyiv regions and the city of Kyiv.

Ukraine’s integration into the Euro-Atlantic community requires professional staff capable of effectively interacting with NATO at all levels. According to Yuliia Lykhach, Head of the High School, professional training of civil servants in the field of relations with NATO should ensure an understanding of the principles and values of the Alliance, knowledge of the mechanisms of cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, negotiation skills and understanding of current challenges, and development of effective strategies to respond to them.

The programme was developed jointly with the All-Ukrainian Public League “Ukraine-NATO” and is aimed at raising the level of professional competence and knowledge of state policy in the field of Euro-Atlantic integration and cooperation between Ukraine and NATO.

It should be added that the institution has a fruitful cooperation with the All-Ukrainian Public League “Ukraine-NATO. Last year, under the jointly developed training programme “North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. NATO-Ukraine Relations”, more than 90 civil servants were certified. This year, the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement was signed and a new training programme was developed.

The goals and activities of the renewed NATO Representation to Ukraine were outlined in a welcoming speech by Vineta Kleine, Head of Communications at the NATO Representation to Ukraine.

Speakers will work with the participants:

• Ihor TODOROV, Professor at Uzhhorod National University, Deputy Chairman of the Coordination Council of the NATO-Ukraine Civic League;
• Taras Zhovtenko, international security expert at the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation;
• Serhiy DZherdzh, Chairman of the NATO-Ukraine Civic League, Chairman of the Public Council at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine;
• Sergiy VERBYTSYI, Head of the Expert Group of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
• Oleg Dzholos, Associate Professor at the Institute of Journalism, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;
• Natalia SVIDERSKA, President of the NGO “All-Ukrainian Democratic Action”;
• Maksym YAKOVLIEV, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy;
• Viktor TOPALSKYI, Head of the Research Laboratory of the Research Centre for Humanitarian Problems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• Ihor Zhdanov, head of the Information Defence project;
• Volodymyr BOIKO, Director of the Chernihiv Regional Centre for Advanced Training.

Over the course of two days, the training participants will examine in detail the general characteristics of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the development of NATO-Ukraine relations. They will also analyse Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO in the context of countering Russian aggression and the prospects for the development of Ukraine-NATO cooperation in the context of a full-scale war and post-war reconstruction.