REPORT

Introduction

The Canadian delegation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly (NATO-PA) has the honour to present its report on the meetings of the Bureau and of the Standing Committee, held in Athens, Greece, on April 9 and 10, 2022. The Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association (CANA) was represented by Ms. Julie Dzerowicz, MP, NATO PA Vice-President and Head of the Canadian Delegation, and Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus, MP, Vice-President of CANA.

Meeting of the NATO PA Bureau

Ms. Julie Dzerowicz, MP, participated in the meeting of the Bureau in her capacity as NATO PA Vice-President. Items discussed included the declaration on Standing with Ukraine, the next steps in response to Russia’s wat in Ukraine, the Assembly’s contributions to NATO’s next Strategic Concept, and the proposal to establish a Democratic Resilience Centre at NATO.

Standing Committee meeting

Ms. Julie Dzerowicz, MP and Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus, MP participated in the Standing Committee sessions.

Opening proceedings included:

• Tribute to Marietta Giannakou, late NATO PA Vice-President and Head of the Greek Delegation to the NATO PA
• Welcome remarks by Constantine An. Tassoulas, President of the Hellenic Parliament

The Standing Committee observed a minute of silence.

Opening proceedings included:

• Draft agenda for the meeting
• Summary of the Standing Committee meeting held in Brussels, Belgium, on 22 February 2022

Address by Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, Minister of National Defence, Hellenic Republic

The Minister began his address noting that Greece is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its accession to NATO and that joining both NATO and the European Union constituted two of the most important decisions that Greece has ever taken. In his remarks he highlighted that it is essential to strengthen NATO today to cope with many challenges and threats. The Minister expressed concerns about possible obstacles to sea transport in the Black Sea, as well as about conflictual dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece’s policies in the region relied on effective armed forces, active participation in NATO structures and dialogue with neighbours based on international law and good neighbourly relations. Greece further supported dealing with the Western Balkans as an area of opportunity rather than a challenge.

Mr. Panagiotopoulos concluded his remarks by noting that Allied nations are dealing with an array of serious crises that involve among others, energy disruption, the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical instability and a brutal war in Ukraine. This combination of crises challenges Allied countries to develop a greater degree of collective resilience.

During the opportunity for questions, Ms. Julie Dzerowicz, MP asked about the short- and long-term challenges China poses to Allied security as well as how to work with China in the short term to address Russia’s war and in the long term to promote stability and security. The Minister responded that China was asserting itself as a superpower, which created antagonism with other powers. The West had no other choice than respond as it did to Russia’s war, even though this risked bringing China and Russia closer together. China was essentially staying out of the current crisis and looking out for its own long-term interests, the Minister noted. Beijing understood that time works in its favour. In light of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Minister argued however that NATO should focus first and foremost on its priorities as a Euro-Atlantic Alliance. Over the longer term, NATO will need to deal with other challenges, including China, instability in Africa and challenges in space, among others, but the immediate priority was security in the Euro-Atlantic area, he stressed.

Online addresses, by Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Yehor Cherniev, Head of the Ukrainian Delegation to the NATO PA

Mr. Stefanchuk began his remarks by expressing his hope that Ukraine’s perspective would be factored into Assembly deliberations in Athens. He suggested that in this war, parliamentarians had demonstrated their unique role in driving change and providing a critical link to the broader public.

Mr. Stefanchuk expressed Ukraine’s gratitude for the assistance received from NATO Allies. At the same time, he urged Allied nations to move beyond delivering surplus equipment in Allies’ inventories and upgrade their assistance to meet Ukraine’s needs.

Mr. Cherniev noted that Ukraine was very grateful for the aid it has been given but to push Russia out it needed a European lend-lease initiative, long-range artillery, air defence and missile defence systems, anti-ship systems, electronic warfare systems as well as armoured vehicles and aircraft – urgently and in large quantities. He warned that if Putin succeeds in Eastern Ukraine, he will launch another attack on Kyiv and then on Europe. He urged his counterparts to do all in their power to mobilise support for Ukraine.

Ms. Dzerowicz thanked the speakers and echoed their comments that this was a crucial moment and that Allies needed to help Ukraine to win. Ukrainians were paying with their lives. Ms. Dzerowicz highlighted Canada’s contributions including the decision to provide an additional CAD 500 million in equipment, CAD 1 billion to support the economy and CAD 1 billion for humanitarian assistance. Other delegates also expressed support for Ukraine.

Consideration of the draft declaration Standing with Ukraine, presented by Michal Szczerba (Poland), Co-Chairperson of the Ukraine-NATO lnterparliamentary Council

Mr. Szczerba introduced the draft declaration. He applauded Ukraine’s leaders and people for fighting for the democratic values NATO stood for. The Ukrainians will not relent and neither should the West, he posited. Poland was playing its part, including by hosting millions of refugees. It was Allied parliaments’ duty to continue to demonstrate their solidarity with Ukraine, its people and democratically elected leaders.

Participating delegations put forward 32 amendments to the declaration. Both Ms. Dzerowicz and Mr. Paul-Hus participated in the discussion of amendments with Ms. Dzerowicz welcoming the proposed inclusion of a reference to sanctions against propagandists and state media in the draft declaration. She also suggested that further language could be added in time to urge Allies to tackle Russia’s disinformation aggressively. The President agreed that this should be included in a future discussion. On the discussion of amendment 27, Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus noted it was impossible to force someone to engage in constructive negotiations. The President agreed that “press” was better than “force”. The President and Rapporteur agreed.

Following the amending of the declaration, it was adopted unanimously.

Consideration and approval of the appointment of the Vice-Presidents by the Bureau (under Article 19 of the Rules of Procedure)

The Bureau proposed the nomination of Spilios Livanos (GR) to serve for the remainder of the late Marietta Giannakou’s mandate, i.e., until the Annual Session in Madrid and the Standing Committee confirmed the nomination by acclamation.

Consideration of the Comments of the Secretary General of NATO, Chairman of the North Atlantic Council, on the Policy Recommendations adopted in 2021 by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly

The President noted that there was increasing support for the NATO PA’s suggestion to create a Centre for Democratic Resilience within NATO in the North Atlantic Council and the NATO Secretary General’s office. The United States Congress had adopted a resolution earlier in the week endorsing the proposal with an overwhelming majority. The President expressed that he was hopeful that other parliaments would follow suit.

The President said that the Assembly would be in regular contact with the NATO Secretary General and NATO Ambassadors up until the Madrid Summit, at which he would make a formal presentation on the Assembly’s contribution to the Strategic Concept.

Activities and subjects for the remainder of 2022 and Update on Presidential Priorities

The President highlighted five priorities for the NATO PA’s future work and activities in response to Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine.

• That the Assembly must continue to demonstrate its support for Ukraine through regular statements and meetings with Ukrainian members of parliament.
• That members should continue to do their utmost to mobilise support for Ukraine in their respective parliaments and governments.
• That the NATO PA must ensure that all Assembly bodies adopt a coordinated approach.
• That the Assembly must prepare itself to assist Ukraine, and specifically the Verkhovna Rada, in the future.
• That the Assembly must begin the process of assessing the long-term implications of the war on the Alliance’s risk assessment, capabilities, membership prospects and partnerships.

The Secretary General presented the overall 2022 work programme. She noted that the Assembly’s two main priorities were:

• Contributing to NATO’s Strategic Concept
• Responding to Russia’s war in Ukraine

The Assembly’s overall revised programme of work for 2022 was adopted. The President noted that the Assembly’s agenda required flexibility, as had been evident since the start of the pandemic and now with Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Review of the Assembly's Consideration of Gender in 2021

The President noted that the Secretary General reported to the Standing Committee every year on the consideration of gender in the Assembly and informed members that they would soon receive the call for nominations for the 2022 edition of the Annual Women for Peace and Security Award and encouraged delegations to submit candidacies.

Regarding the mainstreaming of gender into the Assembly’s political programme, in addition to the creation of a new award the Secretary General said that four reports and one resolution in 2021 addressed gender-related aspects of the Alliance’s security priorities. Regarding the gender balance at the Assembly, she stated that, although the long-term trends were positive, women’s participation seemed to have reached a plateau. She informed members that women represented, as of March 2022, 18% of the Assembly’s members, 7 Heads of delegation and 27% of committee officers and, in 2021, 23% of session participants. She noted that, for the first time, there was gender parity in the Bureau membership.

Review of Financial Reports and the List of Future Sessions and Meetings

A report on the audit of the NATO PA’s financial statements and the NATO PA contingency fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, was presented by Daniela Morgante, Chairperson of the International Board of Auditors for NATO (IBAN). Ms. Morgante said that IBAN had issued an unqualified opinion on the financial statements of the NATO PA and the NATO PA Provident Fund on compliance, meaning that the financial statements were stated fairly and that nothing had come to IBAN’s attention that caused it to believe that funds have not been properly used for the settlement of authorised expenditure or were not in compliance with the rules and regulations.

After a discussion on the surplus, the Standing Committee unanimously agreed to recommend that the surplus from cancelled meetings should be allocated to a new fund to support Ukraine. This fund could serve for democracy support, the organisation of meetings in Ukraine, support for the Verkhovna Rada, and other uses to be determined depending on future needs and the Assembly’s specific role.

Finally, the list of future sessions and meetings was examined, and thanks was given to the Lithuanian delegation for agreeing to host the upcoming Spring Session in Vilnius on such short notice.

Other delegation meetings

While in Athens, the delegates had the pleasure of meeting with Mark Allen, Canada’s Ambassador to Greece.  They discussed the current political situation in Greece, its strategic position in relation to Europe and in Turkey in particular.

Respectfully submitted,

Julie Dzerowicz, M.P.
Chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association