I’ve spent the past few days in Kyiv, Ukraine. One way and another, I’m travelling quite a lot at the moment, but all I tend to see is the inside of hotels and conference centres, so I was determined to do a tour of Kyiv. Unfortunately, by the time the allotted day came round, I was absolutely exhausted, so I haven’t seen nearly as much as I would have liked.
General impressions, though, are very good. The streets in central Kyiv are all very wide – probably fifty metres between buildings on the main roads – which means there is plenty of room to stroll through a city that was either not too badly affected by the ravages of communist architecture or is doing a good job of renovating itself. It also makes the city quiet, despite the heavy traffic. There’s plenty to see and do – the Museum of the Great Patriotic War is very interesting, and it’s lovely to walk along the Dnieper and see the islands in the river.
The Atlantic Treaty Association’s 55th General Assembly brought me to the Ukraine. Ukraine is, as we know, on a path that may, if the people desire it, take it into NATO. While it remains controversial, the people I met here, from the government and broader civil society, suggested to me that there is commitment to modernisation and Euro-Atlantic integration, whether or not that actually means signing up to the Washington Treaty or not.
The next few weeks see me in Macedonia, Slovakia and maybe Montenegro.
xD.
