Euro-Atlantic integration and Ukrainian youth. Opinions and problems

A. Schelkova

One of the determinant national foreign policy priorities is European and Euroatlantic integration. Relationship between Ukraine and NATO was established in 1991, when Ukraine proclaimed sovereignty right after the fall of the USSR and joined the Council of Northenatlantic Collaboration, later renamed The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC).

Main organizations which make an activity in this range in Ukraine are: Kyiv National Centre of Euroatlantic integration; Scientific-Informational of International security and Euroatlantic integration in Donetsk National University; Scientific Informational-Analytic Centre for NATO of Prycarpathsky National University of V. Stephanyc and such centers over the Ukraine.

Atlantic Counsel of Ukraine (ACU), established in 1995, was one of the first public organizations which, according to its statute, “is engaged in questions of progressive integration of Ukraine into European and Euroatlantic structures of collaboration and security”. ATA comprises two youth structures: Youth Atlantic Treaty Association (YATA) and Association of Young Political Leaders.

Official representative of YATA in Ukraine is Youth Centre of Atlantic Council in Ukraine (YCACU), public organization established within the framework of Youth Program of Ukrainian Atlantic Council with a purpose of spreading among the youth the information and propaganda the ideas of Ukraine's integration into European and Euroatlantic structures. The main working activities of Youth Centre ACU are:

- informing and popularizing of the main objectives of the centre, including working with the media;

- contribution to researching work, organization and consulting work regarding formation of political, economical, scientific, technical priorities as well as strategic interests of Ukraine.

For the clarification of situation around Euroatlantic integration let's compare some points of view on this problem. I took results of monitoring was carried out jointly by Scientific-Informational of International security and Euroatlantic integration in Donetsk National University and Scientific Informational-Analytic Centre for NATO of Prycarpathsky National University of V. Stephanyc in September 2008.

The researches were conducted in the framework of project “The development of methodological principles and organizational activities of informing the public of Donetsk and Ivano-Frankovsk regions in the questions of Euroatlantic integration of Ukraine”.

The aims of researching were:

- to state the relations of respondents to the future international status of Ukraine;

- to compare the peculiarity of the perception of Euroatlantic integration in mentally different regions.

The results of monitoring are presented on diagrams below

Pic. 1.”What international status, for your opinion, is the best for Ukraine? ”

1. A member of NATO

2. A neutral state

3. A member of a security union with Russia and other UIS states

4. “Nuclear state”

5. A regional leader in a structure like GUAM.

So, as we can see, just 12% of Donetsk respondents support the future status of Ukraine as member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in the Ivano-Frankovsk region this number is larger mare than at 3.

Our opinion changes from East to West. It is conditioned by several causes:

1) differences in mentality and historical or cultural development;

2) low level of information about NATO

and others.

But despite of all the differences it is real possibility of educational influence for the formation of the objectives about North Atlantic Treaty organization among Ukrainian youth.

Literature

1. O. Hryhorieva. Euroatlantic processes as the young people see them. // UKRAINE-NATO. - 3 (19) 2007 - p. 72-80

2. http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2009/02-february/e0220b.html

3. http://www.intsecurity.dn.ua/stat/vestnik.php