An active project
Youth model of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
The project was intended to introduce young Ukrainians to the NATO PA organization and its working principles, to understand how NATO’s key democratic decision-making mechanism works in a multinational environment, to establish many personal contacts, and to directly transfer the experience of parliamentarians and diplomatic professionals to current students of higher education institutions.
Participants in the Youth model of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly come from all over Ukraine: Uzhhorod, Lviv, Kyiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Poltava, Kherson, Izmail, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Sumy, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Uman, Mykolaiv.
The project was implemented by the NGO “National Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS” with the support of the NATO Documentation and Information Center.
Hanna Hopko
People’s Deputy of Ukraine and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 2014-2019, Chairman of the Board of the National Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS”
“On the 30th anniversary of the restoration of statehood, ANTS launched the NATO PA’s first Youth Model. Ukraine, which has resisted Russian military aggression for the past eight years, has become a contributor to European security. The further development of Ukraine’s strategic partnership with NATO entails a process of domestic transformations in which youth from various regions of Ukraine must be involved. One of the project’s objectives is to raise Ukrainian youth awareness of NATO’s history and standards, as well as cooperation with Ukraine. According to our vision, “Ukraine in NATO by 2030,” it is the youth who will demand democratic transformations in responsible state officials, as well as the acceleration of reforms. That is why ANTS launched the NATO PA Youth Model in order to prepare progressive youth for a responsible task – the implementation of the course for joining NATO enshrined in the Constitution.”
Victoria Shcherba
student, president of the youth model of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
“The NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s youth model personifies Ukrainians’ commitment to NATO’s democratic values and serves as a catalyst for our country’s development. We, as Ukraine’s future community of young leaders, are well aware of the responsibility that rests on us, and by participating in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s youth model, we demonstrate our readiness for big changes and constant progress.”
Oksana Yurynets
People’s Deputy of Ukraine and Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the NATO PA in 2018-2019
“Ukraine’s youth will transform the country! The Constitutional path for Ukraine’s accession to NATO is being implemented by raising the level of awareness among Ukrainian youth about NATO PA activities, standards, history, and interactions with Ukraine. The NATO PA youth model is a communication platform for young people from all over Ukraine, from various universities and specialties, who are active progressives with Euro-Atlantic beliefs. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for interaction, finding common solutions, defending a position through the representation of various countries as delegates, and creating a shared future for Europe and the world.”
The participants of the event were:
- Ruslan Stefanchuk – Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, jurist and politician
- Olga Stefanishyna – Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine
- Baiba Braze – Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Public Diplomacy
- Ruxandra Popa – Secretary General of the NATO PA
- Nicolas Harrocks – Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Ukraine
- Bartosz Cihotskyi – Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine
- Oksana Yurynets – Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the NATO PA in 2018-2019
- Hanna Hopko – People’s Deputy of Ukraine and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 2014-2019, Chairman of the Board of the National Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS”.