Andrii Zagorodniuk took part in the briefing “Euro-Atlantic integration within the interaction of the Parliament and the Government”

On October 10, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Zagorodniuk took part in the briefing "Euro-Atlantic Integration within the Interaction of the Parliament and the Government" which was held at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Andrii Zagorodniuk noted that the Euro-Atlantic integration and the achievement of military criteria for NATO membership are among the main priorities within the Government's Action Program.

"We have already moved on to its implementation. A new command and control system of the Armed Forces is being developed that will fully meet the criteria of NATO member states," said the Minister of Defense. "Some changes to the legislation are also being developed to provide standards for democratic civilian control of the defense forces, which is a prerequisite for joining NATO and for improving the quality of defense force management".

According to Andrii Zagorodniuk, the Ministry of Defense continues to work closely with foreign partners and allies - the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Lithuania, Poland, etc. to achieve the interoperability of Ukraine's defense forces with NATO's defense forces. Trainings and educational events are being conducted to achieve this goal. Ukrainian and foreign military are working out joint actions during these events.

The Minister of Defense also noted that the Ministry is intensively working on the issue of modernization of arms and military equipment. He also added that the procurement of the Javelin anti-tank missiles is planned, which is a test case this year.

"We are working out similar contracts and agreements with our partners and we hope that next year we will be able to show more results on this issue. There is also a plan for a new weapons program that will not be as classified as past state defense procurement program. We will open up the State Defense Order at most, we will open up the procurement of armaments so that the people of Ukraine and our partners can see how we manage the budget funds," emphasized Andrii Zagorodniuk.

The Minister of Defense also informed that in order to achieve NATO standards and principles, the Ministry Defense is in the process of introducing educational programs for more systematic changes among the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"New courses will be introduced this year. They will be included in the permanent curriculum and will be based on NATO standards," said Andrii Zagorodniuk.