International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), in cooperation with Anti-Crisis Media Centre (Ukraine), has successfully conducted a two-day international conference called “Civil sector and state: how to achieve success in national resilience through cooperation”. The conference was held on 11-12 April 2017 in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, an industrial city with population over 200 000 people, currently the centre of Donetsk oblast, which was occupied by pro-Russian separatists from the so-called “DNR” in 2014.
“Due to the hybrid nature of modern warfare, it is essential to engage in reinforcing defence and strengthening national resilience as much civil society as possible,” asserts Dmitri Teperik, ICDS Chief Executive and leader of the “Resilient Ukraine” project team. Since regaining its independence 25 years ago, Estonia has been creating the culture of security in society. It is being done with strong support from the government. The war in Eastern Ukraine has also mobilized society, and you already have certain valuable experience. This situation is obvious here in Kramatorsk, where bloody conflict started three years ago on April 12, 2014. National security is not only prerogative of the state with its armed forces, but it is also the responsibility of society as a whole. Therefore, all forces of society must be directed towards building national resilience. The representatives of various voluntary organisations from Estonia were invited not to teach you, but rather to exchange experience”, concluded Dmitri Teperik.
More than 50 people from different Ukrainian cities and towns took part in the Estonian-Ukrainian conference “Resilient Ukraine,” where several experts addressed general topics as well as conducted discussions in thematic sections like cybersecurity, information security, and motivational training of reservists and volunteers. Among the invited experts from Estonia and Ukraine were representatives from the Estonian Defence League’s Cyber Unit, ICDS, and the National Centre for Defence & Security Awareness (Estonia).
Dmitri Teperik and Grigori Senkiv from the National Centre for Defence & Security Awareness also presented a report on the topic “How to organise information resistance in social media networks?” The full program of the conference can be found here (in Russian). One day before the conference, experts gave a press conference that can be watched here. Some other sections of the conference are available online. The photo gallery can be found on our Facebook page.
In the framework of the conference was also conducted presentation of a new book of an Ukrainian political expert Yevgeny Magda “Hybrid Russian aggression: lessons for Europe”.
Ukrainian media coverage of the conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBVzvfa6sY& https://www.dotb.dn.ua/2017/04/zavtra-estontsi-rozkazhut-pro-gibridnu-viynu-v-yevropi/ http://tehnopolis.com.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28528:2017-04-14-19-31-47&catid=59:2011-01-11-21-18-52&Itemid=15 http://vchasnoua.com/donbass/50773-estontsy-rasskazali-zhitelyam-donbassa-o-metodakh-bor-by-s-rossijskimi-trollyami http://vchasnoua.com/donbass/50754-na-ukraino-estonskoj-vstreche-v-kramatorske-prezentovali-knigu-o-gibridnoj-agressii-rossii https://hromadskeradio.org/programs/kyiv-donbas/yakoyu-movoyu-govoryat-pobratymy-drugoryadne-koly-ydetsya-pro-zhyttya-i-smert-pokalchuk https://hromadskeradio.org/programs/kyiv-donbas/my-pryehaly-pouchytsya-u-ukrayncev-umenyyu-protyvostoyat-agressoru-estonskye-dobrovolcy The conference was held in framework of the Estonian-Ukraine development cooperation project “Civil society support for strengthening national resilience and security in Ukraine”, which is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.