Rada passes bill on national security
Ukraine's parliament adopted bill No. 8068 on country's national security.
As reported by Censor.NET citing UNIAN, a total of 248 lawmakers voted in favor of the new legislation while the Opposition Bloc and Vidrodzhennia Group chose not to vote, and only one member of the Volia Naroda Group voted as well as another three MPs from the Radical Party.
The bill defines the principles of state policy on national security and defense. Among the fundamental national interests of Ukraine is Ukraine's integration into the European political, economic legal space and that in the field of security; membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; development of equal and mutually beneficial relations with other states.
The bill says that threats to Ukraine's national security and the relevant priorities of state policy in the fields of national security and defense are defined in the National Security Strategy of Ukraine, Strategy of Ukraine's military security, Cybersecurity Strategy of Ukraine, and other documents on national security and defense, which shall be approved by the National Security and Defense Council and confirmed by Presidential decrees. The new legislation defines civil control, in particular of the state of law and order in the security and defense bodies, their staffing, availability of modern weapons, military and special equipment, provision of necessary supplies of material resources and readiness to perform tasks in peacetime and in a special period; effectiveness of the use of resources, in particular budgetary funds, in the security and defense sectors.
The bill determines which areas shall be supervised by the president of Ukraine, National Security and Defense Council, Verkhovna Rada, and Cabinet of Ministers. It specifies that public associations can, in particular, receive information from state bodies on the activities of the components of the security and defense sector, except for information with limited access; carry out public expertise of draft laws, decisions, programs, submit their conclusions and proposals for consideration to relevant state bodies. The Security and Defense Sector of Ukraine consists of four interrelated components: security forces; defense forces; defense industry; citizens and public associations that voluntarily participate in ensuring national security.
