NATO urges Ukraine to focus on full implementation of national security law

Ukraine should focus on the full implementation of the law on national security and further secondary legislation, Head of the NATO Representation to Ukraine Alexander Vinnikov has said.

He said this at the sixth meeting on parliamentary and public reform in Kyiv on Thursday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

From the point of view of NATO, the adoption of the law on national security in June 2018 was a key step in bringing Ukraine closer to Euro-Atlantic standards and principles, Vinnikov said. NATO calls on Ukraine to focus on the full implementation of this law, including the timely introduction and implementation of further secondary legislation, he added.

Vinnikov said that support for the reform of the defense and security sector is one of the main objectives of NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package that was approved by the leaders of NATO member states and governments in 2016.

He also noted that over the past five years a strategic focus for NATO's advisors has been to provide support and assistance to institutions in developing and implementing strategic documents.

Vinnikov said he was confident that this year would be crucial for Ukraine, including the defense and security sector, and that it would be a new page in Ukraine's history. He said it was important that the country does not lose this reform impetus, this movement in reform, because NATO supports these active processes.

Ukraine's new law on national security came into force on July 8, 2018.

The law defines the principles of national security and defense, the goals and basic principles of state policy that will guarantee the protection of society and every citizen from threats.

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