GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany, Sept. 19, 2017 —
Parliamentarians from Ukraine,
“Last year was the first time we invited parliamentarians from three nations and everyone was quite pleased by that trilateral format,” said Marshall Center Black Sea and Eurasia Program Director Valbona Zeneli. “We saw some positive outcomes from that first seminar and refocused our efforts on a central theme of resilience. In many
“The Marshall Center can serve as a platform for establishing better communication and coordination among the parliamentarians and advance a future strategic dialogue,” said Zeneli, who was responsible for this seminar.
Resilience Is Key to Reform in Eastern Europe
According to Marshall Center faculty members Ralf Roloff and Pal Dunay, resilience is how nations and societies resist collapse under the impact of different internal and external threats. Nations such as Georgia,
“Resilience has much to do with the nations’ capacity, governance, cohesion and support of its citizens, state institutions and elected leaders,” Roloff said. “But because there are so many factors contributing to resilience, it’s too simple to say ‘good governance’ is the answer. Resilience must be developed in anticipation of scenarios that are likely to occur.”
Dunay agreed with his colleague.
“Ukraine,
Seminar Speakers Provide Insight, Stimulate Discussion
Focused on building resilience through partnership, the seminar was divided into seven sessions over two days. Topics included U.S. and German perspectives on the European security environment, the European Union strategy for resilience, the challenge of corruption
“Economic security is among the main challenges facing Georgia,
She added, “Building up resilience in this region requires a multidimensional and regional approach, and building economic resilience is imperative. The parliamentarians in this seminar are the ones who can change that.”
“What I found most interesting was that we three countries have common ideas and agree how these problems should be addressed. This was the beauty of the seminar --the ability to work together, to cooperate together for resolving the problems for regional security,” said Georgian Parliamentarian and First Deputy Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee Irakli Beraia. “The speakers were able to break down these complex problems into more manageable issues. This seminar has enabled us, in more detail, to discuss these particular problems and how to address them step-by-step.”
Among the guest speakers were: Susan Elliot, civilian deputy to the commander and foreign policy advisor for U.S. European Command; Antonio Missiroli, director of the European Union Institute for Security Policy; Tanya Hartman, NATO partnership officer; Mark
Ukraine Partner Optimistic About Future
The two-day Marshall Center seminar provided opportunities for parliamentarians to meet informally between sessions to get to know each other and develop personal trust that is important in the region. For Ukrainian Parliamentarian Andreii
“Seminars like this for parliamentarians from different countries but with similar histories help us to find the decision on what we should do to unite our actions for safer countries, especially from Russian aggression,” he said. “It’s very important to stay connected. Dialogues like this seminar have helped Ukraine on what we should do right now and in the long term. Seminars like this help us understand the processes in other countries and cooperate in our actions to produce more clear reforms.”
Looking at the challenges facing Ukraine and what the future holds,