Remarks by Chargé d’Affaires Kristina Kvien at a Civil-Military Emergency Preparedness Workshop

February 11, 2020

Good morning, everybody.  It’s great to be here, great to see such a big group.  I think we’ve got just about every seat filled, so that’s terrific.

The Civil-Military Emergency Preparedness, or CMEP, program is one of many bilateral activities carried out by the United States Government to support Ukraine’s efforts to enhance national resilience.

As the coronavirus recent outbreak has shown us, I think, you never know what emergency might hit, and so that’s why workshops like these are so important — because you always want to be prepared ahead of time, before the emergency actually arrives.

This workshop is another example of U.S. commitment to supporting Ukraine’s NATO and Euro-Atlantic institution aspirations.  As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated during his visit to Kyiv about a week and a half ago: “our commitment to support Ukraine will not waver.”

Through today’s event, we are supporting Ukraine’s efforts to implement a deliberate, whole-of-government approach to emergency preparedness, and to maintain national-level momentum for resilience-related reforms.

As Ukraine’s strategic partner, the United States is proud to support this important work, and we will stand with Ukraine as you continue along your Euro-Atlantic path.

I look forward to hearing more today about Ukraine’s continued forward progress in this strategic priority area.

I thank you very much, and I wish you a good day.  Дякую.