UKRAINE: NATO INFORMATION CAMPAIGN GAINS MOMENTUM

C O N F I D E N T I A L KYIV 001144 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2018 TAGS: NATO PGOV PREL UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE: NATO INFORMATION CAMPAIGN GAINS MOMENTUM REF: KYIV 1061 Classified By: Classified by Acting PolCouns Robert Scott for reasons 1 .4 (b,d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. There has been no official launching ceremony, but a combination of recent NATO-related Presidential decrees, Cabinet adoption of a multi-year Euroatlantic information campaign, and passage of amendments to the 2008 state budget have given critical mass to Ukraine's NATO information campaign. An April 25 Yushchenko decree placed "personal responsibility" on Deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyria to move forward euroatlantic integration goals and form an interministerial committee, with the authority to compel action, to coordinate Ukraine-NATO cooperation. The Cabinet of Ministers' May 28 adoption of an 8.5 million USD information campaign budget provides for publications, conferences, NATO HQ visits for journalists and other opinion leaders, and will be supplemented by additional funds from ministries and independent agencies. The May 23 passage of 2008 budget amendments provided funding for the campaign and allows Ministries to begin signing contracts for publications, travel, events, etc. A high-profile May 30 launch of a nationwide "NATO Yes" campaign by the People's Union Our Ukraine (PUOU) party concluded a month of intense activity and provided additional impetus and press coverage on NATO issues. ¶2. (C) Comment. To date the informal intra-governmental coordinating process for NATO issues has seem mixed results. We've recently seen strong and positive engagement from the GOU through the Intensified Dialogue and Annual Target Plan rubrics, with three recent Ministerial-level visits to Brussels headlining a schedule that has approximately twenty-five individual activities listed prior to the December Brussels Foreign Ministers' MAP evaluation. Activities include several Ministerials, meetings of the Political and Political-Military Committee, NUC Ambassadorials, Joint Working Groups, etc. However, domestic efforts to produce an effective NATO information campaign have lagged -- a lack of clear-cut lines of authority, minimal funding, sporadic high-level participation have weakened GOU efforts. We now have a positive shift, with the naming of Deputy PM Nemyria to oversee NATO cooperation/public information efforts, adoption of a detailed program, and passage of a budget providing the platform to engage the Ukrainian population in a discussion on NATO. How effective these efforts are will be determined in the coming months, but reaching the critical mass for "launch" has been a very positive step forward. Mission Kyiv will continue to actively support the Information Campaign, with activities ranging from public speaking and outreach from the Ambassador and other staff to an active Public Affairs-led visitor program that sends journalists and Rada MPs to NATO HQ. End Summary and Comment. Yushchenko to Finalize New Interministerial Commission -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) President Yushchenko on April 25 issued a decree to "Further Develop NATO-Ukraine Relations... and Ensure Coordination of Ukrainian State Executive Authorities, and Other State Bodies in the Area of Euroatlantic Integration." The decree put in force an NSDC decision assigning "personal responsibility" to Deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyria for coordinating and controlling all aspects of NATO-Ukraine cooperation and forming a new intergovernmental committee focusing on Euroatlantic integration and the NATO Information Campaign. Nemyria has put forward a proposal for a new Interministerial Commission on NATO-Ukraine Cooperation that would report directly to him and be composed of six working groups at the deputy minister level; 1) Foreign Policy, 2) Security Sector Reform, 3) Defense and Military, 4) Economy and Resource Supply, 5) Public Information, and 6) Democratic Institutions and Legal Issues. Nemyria would have the authority to compel action from Ministries, a key aspect that is lacking in the current NATO Coordination Committee led by DFM Khandohiy. The last remaining step is for Yushchenko to issue a decree dissolving the current Committee and clearing the way for Nemyria's commission. ¶4. (C) DPM Nemyria's Deputy Head of Office, Dr. Ihor Zhovkva, told us on June 10 that a last minute proposal by Presidential Secretariat staff to place control over the new Commission within the Secretariat, thereby bypassing Nemyria, was delaying the President's decision. Zhovkva believes the President will ultimately decide to retain Nemyria as the Commission Head, in large part to bind PM Tymoshenko more closely to the NATO issue, but that the delay risked interrupting the current positive momentum. He also indicated that recently appointed NSDC First Deputy Secretary Stepan Havrysh (Yanukovych's attorney during the Orange Revolution period) had pushed hard for the Commission Head slot. Zhovkva saw Havrysh as a positive force on NATO, citing his effectiveness during a recent trip to Brussels as head of a NUC Joint Working Group delegation. Zhovkva described Havrysh's efforts as an attempt to expand his personal influence on an issue he supported, rather than as a way to block or sideline GOU efforts. Zhovkva believes Yushchenko is likely to make his decision in support of Nemyria's proposal prior to the June 16-17 NATO SYG/NAC visit to Ukraine. State Euroatlantic Integration Campaign -------------- ¶5. (U) Adopted by the CabMin on May 28, the "State Program on Public Information on Ukraine's Euroatlantic Integration 2008-2011" provides 40.5 million hryvnia (8.5 million USD) for a four-year program that aims to increase public support for NATO membership from today's level of 30 percent to 55 percent by 2011. The funds will be used in part in combination with existing programs to increase leverage -- for example, 50,000 USD will be combined with an additional 200,000 USD from local budgets to organize NATO speaker programs in local press centers. Disposition of the funds is spelled out in detail (full list will be forwarded by e-mail),with key items including: - NATO pamphlets/postcards (1.2 million USD) - TV debates (500,000 USD) - Monthly TV Program (350,000 USD) - Regional Conferences (300,000 USD)) - NATO HQ visits for journalists, NGO reps, etc (150,000 USD - one visit per oblast per year) - NATO centers at Universities (175,000 USD) - Polling (100,000 USD) ¶6. (C) MFA NATO Deputy Director General Vadym Prystaiko on June 5 told us that his office will be able to draw funds from the state budget, supporting regional conferences for which they intend to invite local or Brussels-based NATO member representatives or International Staff. They also intend to supplement the state program funds with fungible MFA public diplomacy funds to increase the size and scope of activities. Prystaiko harbors some concerns regarding the speed (or lack thereof) of the MFA's contracting/procuring process and intend to raise this issue with Deputy Minister Khandohiy to insure that forward momentum is not lost. Other organizations, including the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration (headed by former Yushchenko foreign policy advisor Horbulin) and two new NSDC offices (EU Integration and NATO Issues),will also be lead implementers of the program. ¶7. (C) Prystaiko, who has had the MFA lead on the NATO Information Campaign issue, also noted that the televised debates and regional conferences will allow pro-NATO MPs to put forward their positions on a national level. He noted especially the chance for the work of the Rada Committee on European Integration, chaired by former FM Borys Tarasyuk (OU-PSD),and the Rada Committee on National Security and Defense, chaired by former Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko (OU-PSD),to be given a wider audience. In late 2007 the Committees held a joint public hearing on NATO issues that was broadcast on the Kyiv-based Rada channel, which Prystaiko noted would have been more effective if made available through national media. Political Party Engages -------------- ¶8. (U) The May 30 high-profile launch of a nationwide "NATO Yes" campaign by the People's Union Our Ukraine (PUOU) party culminated a month of positive news related to NATO. Party Head Viacheslav Kyrylenko, who has been an effective proponent of MAP/NATO Membership in small-group meetings and lunches hosted by the Embassy, took his efforts onto the national stage with an event at Kyiv's largest concert hall. A crowd of 4,000 witnessed a series of short speeches by PUOU MPs, including an effective presentation by PUOU MP Iryna Heraschenko underlining the need to engage Russia and address its concerns, while insisting on Ukraine's right to choose its security arrangements. The event was notable both for its professional organization (media coverage was extensive) and lack of anti-Russian rhetoric. Kyrylenko announced PUOU's intention to include an earmark in subsequent 2008 budget amendments to open a bureau of the First National Television Channel covering NATO HQ in Brussels. ¶9. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev. TAYLOR