On February 17, the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center hosted a briefing entitled "Sustainability and Security: What Can Ukraine Learn from NATO?" The event was co-organized by the Center for Regional Security Studies and the Department of Psychology, Political Science and Socio-Cultural Technologies. The discussion was attended by representatives of the Ukrainian Government, foreign diplomats, MPs of Ukraine and experts in the field of national stability.

Mykola Nazarov, Candidate of Political Science, Head of the Center for Regional Security Studies, stressed that the authorities should emphasize the regional aspect of national security. The state and the leaders of the state alone cannot build a successful state and successfully defend themselves against aggression. The result is possible only in cooperation between the state and civil society institutions.

Vineta Kleine, Director of the NATO Information and Documentation Center in Ukraine, thanked Sumy State University and the Center for Regional Security Studies for organizing the event and noted that resilience is society's ability to resist and recover quickly after a difficult situation or crisis. She also acquainted the audience with current joint international programs that support national security and defense to increase the resilience of the state. Dmytro Teperik, Director of the Sustainable Ukraine Program and Executive Director of the International Center for Defense and Security (ICDS), noted that “Sustainable Ukraine” has been operating for 5 years, and we are working to create standards for measuring national resilience to strengthen it”. The discussion was continued by Maryana Bezugla, a People’s Deputy of Ukraine, who stressed that national stability is closely linked to the work of special services. “One of the main priorities for strengthening the stability of Ukraine was the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Intelligence”.

Estonian Ambassador to Ukraine Kaimo Kuusk advised the Ukrainian authorities to inform international partners in a timely manner and as widely as possible about Ukraine's steps to protect national security. Oleksiy Genchev, a representative of the Government Office, recalled the joint exercise with NATO: “This year, in cooperation with NATO, we plan to hold a joint exercise in Odessa “Inviolable Sustainability 2021”, to counter hybrid threats to critical infrastructure in the Black Sea region. These exercises will help build interagency cooperation, as well as communication between government agencies and citizens”, – said Mr. Oleksiy.

After the briefing, Mykola Nazarov talked to Hromadsky Radio journalist Andriy Kulikov about the specifics of the Center's work at the university and the scientific directions of its work. You can listen to the recording of the conversation by following the link.