CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE SYSTEM OF DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OVER THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article outlines the role and place of civil society in the system of democratic civilian control (DCC) over the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) as a key factor in addressing the challenges of ensuring national security. The author analyses the forms and methods of DCC, taking into account the current security challenges (full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation) and the specifics of the armed forces of the state as an institution that protects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state. A political science assessment of the key regulatory documents governing the DCC in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the relations of civil society as an element of the system of civilian control in the army is given. The author identifies the prospects of the DCC in the system of interaction between civil society and the state for controlling the armed forces as one of the key tools for ensuring not only control, but also security functions in the state, through close and effective cooperation and development of such partnership with the executive, legislative, judicial authorities and the media. The author analyses the part of the Law of Ukraine «On National Security of Ukraine» of 21 June 2018 related to civil society as a component of the DCC of the national security sector and, in particular, the armed forces, as well as other political and legal acts. The emphasis is placed on a number of documents in which Ukraine has assumed international obligations to implement and develop the DCC as an important component of Euro-Atlantic integration, namely: «Partnership for Peace: A Framework Document» (1994), «Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security» (1994), «Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Ukraine» (1997). Based on the democratic experience of Ukraine’s Western partners, it is noted that fostering an active civic position, involving civil society in the formation and implementation of state policy, in particular in its security format, is a solid foundation for the effective establishment and functioning of national security policy.