"Peace Shield-2000": opening ceremony

Lviv Television, July 14, 2000. Solemn opening ceremony of the military exercises "Peace Shield-2000".

On the video: a flag with the emblem of the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, servicemen of different countries at the Yavoriv training ground in the Lviv region, various plans, preparation for the opening ceremony; arrival of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Kuzmuk, the anthem of Ukraine sounds, raising the flags of the following countries: Ukraine, the USA, Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Greece, the Republic of Georgia, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Spain, the Republic of Italy, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Canada, the Republic of Moldova, Germany, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Turkey, the Kingdom of Sweden, Finland, Estonia; the heads of foreign delegations are named; Divine service for the personnel of the Ukrainian-Polish battalion, conducted by Archbishop Andriy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Bishop Mykhail of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Bishop Stanislav of the Roman Catholic Church.

Comments: Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Kuzmuk; Head of the National Security Bureau of the Republic of Poland Marek Sivec; Co-Director of the exercises from the American side, Brigadier General Lloyd Austin.

Reference: The international military exercises "Peace Shield-2000" were held at the Yavoriv training ground in the Lviv region as part of the NATO program "Partnership for Peace", which Ukraine joined in 1994. In 2000, about 1,600 servicemen from 26 countries took part in these maneuvers, which became evidence of the expansion of military-political cooperation between Ukraine and the Alliance in the period after the ratification by the Verkhovna Rada of the Additional Protocol to the Agreement on the Status of Armed Forces (2000). The main objectives of the exercises were to develop the interoperability of headquarters and units of different states in conducting peacekeeping, humanitarian and search and rescue operations, as well as to gain practical experience in conducting multinational peacekeeping operations. The exercises at the Yavoriv training ground, which has been used as the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security since the 1990s, consolidated Ukraine's role as an active participant in the international security architecture at the beginning of the 21st century.