On the second day of the 95th NATO PA Rose-Roth Seminar, during the Session "The Humanitarian and Military Situation in the Donbas", moderated by Ms Hanna Hopko form Ukraine, Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and UNIC Co-Chair, the participants of the Seminar were addressed by: Colonel General Stepan Poltorak, Minister of Defence of Ukraine; Ms Iryna Gerashchenko, First Vice-Chairwoman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and President’s Envoy for Conflict Settlement in Donetsk and Lugansk Regions, and Mr Ernst Reichel, Ambassador of Germany in Ukraine.
During the discussion that followed, the participants of the panel were presented with the humanitarian and military situation in Donbas, with particular reference to the current political situation in this area, the challenges, consequences and ways for their prevention, mitigation and overcoming. A special reference with regards to this was made on the implementation of international law in the Donbas area, the work of the Minsk Group and the role of the Parliament of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada.
Session III, entitled "The Political and Human Rights Situation in Crimea", was moderated by Mr Metin Lutfi Baydar from Turkey, NATO PA Vice-President, and the participants of the Seminar were addressed by: Mr Refat Chubarov, President of the Mejlis of Criean Tatars, followed by Ms Oleksandra Matviychuk, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Civil Liberties, human rights activist, and Mr Andreas Umland, Senior Research Fellow Kyiv Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation.
Based on the presentations of the speakers in this part of the 95th Rose Roth Seminar, the participants developed the discussion that was mostly dedicated to the current political situation in the Crimea, human rights issues in this area and perspectives of future developments.
During Session IV on "Ukraine’s Reform Agenda and Internal Challenges", moderated by Hon. Raynell Andreychuk from Canada, Co-Chair of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council (UNIC), presentations were held by Mr Ivan Miklos, Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister of Ukraine and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Slovakia; Ambassador Hugues Mingarelli, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine; Mr Ihor Hryniv, Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Informatization and Communications of the Parliament of Ukraine; Mr Valerii Pekar, representative of the New Country Civil Platform and former member of the National Reform Council, and Mr Balazs Jarabik, Non-Resident Scholar, Member of the Ukraine Reforming Ukraine Project and representative of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Based on the presentations of the speakers in this part, participants of the 95th Rose Roth Seminar have especially expressed their interest in Ukraine's reform path, the priority activities in this process and challenges that this country faced in the foreseeable future.
Session V followed, entitled "Ukraine, NATO and Integrity Building", moderated by Mr Philipp Fluri, Assistant Director at the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), with presentations by: Mr Alexander Vinnikov, Head at the NATO Representation to Ukraine and Director at the NATO Liaison Office on "NATO’s support to Ukraine: the Comprehensive Assistance Package and Building Integrity"; Mr Joelle Vachter, Deputy Head of the European Union Advisory Mission in Ukraine on "Civilian Security Sector Integrity"; Ms Iryna Suslova, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine and Head of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Gender Equality and Non-discrimination on "An Initiative to Promote Parliamentary Ethics: Context, Principles, Stipulations", and Ms Raynell Andreychuk, Chair of the Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senators of the Senate of Canada.
95th Rose-Roth Seminar continues tomorrow.
