Ukrainian delegation visits Swedish Defence University

Peter Lidén, Department of War Studies and Military History, SEDU; Serhii Harbarenko, Defence Attaché, Ukraine Embassy to the Kingdom of Sweden; Camilla Unsgaard, Program Director for International Programme, CTSS, SEDU; Anders Persson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, SEDU; Andrii Plakhotniuk, Ambassador, Ukraine Embassy to the Kingdom of Sweden; Robert Egnell, Vice-Chancellor, SEDU; Volodymyr Mirnenko, Director of the Department of Military Education and Science, Ministry of Defence/MOD; Andrii Sliusarenko, Deputy Chief for Academic Affairs, National Defence University of Ukraine/NDUU; Erik Biverot, Acting Head of Executive Education, CTSS, SEDU

Representatives from the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the Ukrainian National Defence University have visited the Swedish Defence University to discuss research and education cooperation in several different areas.

The visit took place a month after a delegation from the Swedish Defence University, led by Vice-Chancellor Robert Egnell and Dean Kjell Engelbrekt, travelled to Ukraine to learn about how officer training is conducted during ongoing war, and Ukrainian colleagues experiences from the war. During the visit cooperation in the field of military education and research between Ukrainian higher education institutions and the Swedish Defence University was discussed. On site in Stockholm, the discussions continued.

Strategic leadership programme for Ukraine

The purpose of the visit to Stockholm was to discuss a Strategic Leadership Programme exclusively for leaders in Ukraine, with the support of NATO's Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP). The project is run by the Swedish Defence University's Centre for Societal Security (CTSS) which has offered this leadership programme since 2021 as part of Sweden's involvement in NATO's Partnership for Peace (PFP).

Officer training and research

On the agenda was also to discuss further collaborations in both research and education. Deputy Vice-Chancellor, brigadier general Anders Persson, led a discussion on the Swedish officer training system, and Dean Kjell Engelbrekt led a similar discussion in the research area. Within the framework of the discussion on ongoing and potential research collaborations, the delegation also met Research Director Katarina Wilhelmsen and International Director Mårten Sundmark from the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI).

"It is years of cooperation with Ukraine that is now developing and intensifying. By meeting in both Kiev and Stockholm, and by signing cooperation agreements at different levels, we also build relationships that enable concrete and important collaborations in both education and research. We have a lot to learn from each other and see these early concrete collaborations as the beginning of a long-term investment in Ukraine's future and integration into the European and transatlantic community," says Vice-Chancellor Robert Egnell.

Participants

The Ukrainian delegation, which visited Sweden and the Swedish Defence University on 12-13 April, consisted of Volodymyr Mirnenko, Director of the Department of Military Education and Science, Ministry of Defence, colonel
Andrii Sliusarenko, Deputy Chief for Academic Affairs, National Defence
University of Ukraine, colonel Yurii Semeniuk, International Relations Section Chi and interpreter Tetiana Sharpantsova. Parts of the meeting were also attended by Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii Plakhotniuk and Defense Attaché colonel Serhii Harbarenko.

The visit was attended by, among others, the Vice-Chancellor of the Swedish Defence University, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, the Dean, representatives of the Department of Leadership and Management, the Centre for Total Defence and Societal Security, the Senior Officer Programme and lieutenant colonel Peter Lidén who was previously Sweden's defence attaché in Ukraine but is now a teacher at the Swedish Defence University.

Representatives of NATO DEEP and the Partnership for Peace also participated in parts of the visit.