Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania to create joint brigade
The new joint military brigade will allow forces from Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania to support stability and safety in the region and bring Kyiv’s armed forces closer to NATO standards.
Military and security experts said that the unit, which will serve under the auspices of the UN, NATO and the EU, constitutes an important step for Ukraine.
“This brigade will defend the interests of the three countries. Ukraine has a similar experience of co-operation in peacekeeping missions in various parts of the world,” Olexander Skipalskiy, a military expert and honorary chairman of the Veterans’ Association of Ukrainian Intelligence, told SETimes. “We have excellent soldiers, and now they can do their job by world standards. In addition, our military will be able to learn English, which is very important for NATO membership.”
The idea of creating the brigade was first raised in 2009, during the presidency of Viktor Yushchenko, but was later abandoned.
After the revolution and the beginning of Russian aggression on Ukrainian territory, the nation’s new leadership intensified the debate on the creation of a joint team. Last fall, the defence ministers of Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine signed an agreement establishing the multi-national Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian brigade, LitPolUkrbrig. In early February, Ukraine’s parliament ratified the agreement and President Petro Poroshenko signed it on February 20th.
“In the first quarter of 2015 it should start to function. There is no time to lose,” Poroshenko said.
According to experts, the fact that Ukraine is accelerating the creation of the unit is linked to Russian aggression in the east. The ongoing hostilities with pro-Kremlin separatists aided by Russia’s military have pushed the Ukrainian government closer to its European partners.
“Actually these three states are united in defending against Russia,” Vadym Grechaninov, a military expert and president of the Atlantic Council of Ukraine, told SETimes. “We know that Poland and Ukraine have always had a good relationship. And Poland has a good understanding of what Russian aggression means. Lithuania also is very affected by the Soviet Union. They understand that Putin will not stop. Therefore, they united in the common defence.”
“It is very important in a military sense, but more important politically. This is the first tier of NATO protection from Russia. European countries want to show that they are ready to fight,” Grechaninov added.
According to the official Ukrainian President website, the brigade will participate in international operations that will be held under the mandate of the UN Security Council and the decisions of the authorised bodies of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. The agreement remains open for the accession of other states under joint invitation of the parties. The brigade’s command will be located in the Polish city of Lublin and will be subject to the legislation of Poland and respective provisions of international law.
According to Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, the unit will include 545 Ukrainian soldiers, 350 from Lithuania and 3,500 from Poland.
Experts said the brigade’s main task would be participation in UN peacekeeping operations.
“There are many examples of such battalions in the world, for instance in the Nordic countries, and the EU has such battalions as well, where 1,500 military personnel from different countries are involved,” Mykola Sungurovsky, director of military programmes at the Razumkov Centre, a public policy organisation, told SETimes. “It will be the work of mobile troops. Joint training, duty mode, the headquarters will be in a state of complete mobile readiness. It is practice for all these countries. They will together gain an experience this work. They will learn to interact with each other.”
Sungurovsky added that being part of the unit is beneficial for Ukraine as it pursues NATO membership. If Ukraine has even one battalion at this level, others will be able to draw from that unit’s experience, making it a plus for the whole army, Sungurovsky said.
Volodymyr Fesenko, the director of the Kyiv-based Penta Centre of Applied Political Studies, pointed out that while the unit will positively facilitate reforms in Ukraine’s army, it will not serve in Donbas.
“The union of units is primarily a chance to strengthen military co-operation between European countries in conditions of Russian aggression,” Fesenko told SETimes. “But LitPolUkrbrig won’t be involved in the peacekeeping mission in Donbas, for example, because Ukraine is a party to the conflict.”
Mykola Spiridonov, a political scientist at the Ukrainian Institute of Analysis and Management of Policy, said there is a strong “psychological factor” in the creation of the Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian unit.
“The importance of this brigade is much higher than the policy talks about it now,” Spiridonov told SETimes. “Russia is very concerned about this fact, because two NATO member countries will unite with a Ukrainian military unit. It clearly demonstrates support for Ukraine.”
How will the partnership with Poland and Lithuania benefit Ukraine’s security and the development of its armed forces? Share your thoughts in the comments section.