NSDC - what is it? National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

In each state there is an authority responsible for the security of the country as a whole. In this article we will talk about Ukraine. NSDC - what is it? When was this body created, and what are its main functions?

NSDC - what is it?

1996 is considered the year of formation of the body for defense and security in Ukraine. On August 30 of this year, Leonid Kuchma issued an appropriate decree. Before that, there were two separate councils in the country: one was responsible for security, the other was engaged in defense matters.

NSDC - what is it? What are the functions of this body, and what powers does it have today? Let's consider these issues in more detail.

National Security Council of Ukraine - abbreviation of the National Security and Defense Council. This is a special body under the President, coordinating activities in the above issues. It is worth noting that the decisions taken at the Council are implemented solely by the decrees of the President. The main goal of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine is coordination of actions, as well as control of executive authorities.

Structure of the body

The head of the National Security and Defense Council, according to Ukrainian legislation, is the President. The second most important person in this body is the secretary, who has the following powers:

• Planning of the NSDC;
• Submitting to the President for consideration draft decisions of the body;
• Organization and conduct of meetings;
• Control over the implementation of decisions taken at meetings;
• Coordination of the activities of the working bodies of the National Security and Defense Council;
• Coverage of the department's position in contacts with other authorities, political parties, public organizations, as well as the press.

For the entire history of the agency's existence, the post of its secretary was replaced by 12 people. By the way, in 2005 it was occupied by the current president of Ukraine - Petro Poroshenko. To date, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council is Alexander Turchinov (since December last year).

The structure of the National Security and Defense Council, in addition to the President and the Secretary, may include:

• Prime Minister of Ukraine;
• Minister of Internal Affairs;
• Head of the SBU;
• The Attorney General;
• The head of the country's Foreign Ministry;
• Other representatives of state power.

As of early 2015, there are 16 members of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Functions and authority

The body is sufficiently empowered. In particular, the NSDC carries out its research in terms of improving the state's national security policy and submits its recommendations and proposals to the President for implementation. At the same time, the agency attracts specialists from various fields (state institutions, research institutes, universities, etc.). The NSDC can also initiate the development of relevant legislative documents.

In addition, the Council is authorized to monitor the activities of all authorities, including local authorities. It is also worth noting that the powers of this body significantly expand under the conditions of a military or emergency situation. In such situations, it is designed to protect the country's population from military and other threats.

The basic forms of work of the National Security and Defense Council

To better answer the question "NSDC - what it is", it is necessary to find out the specifics and basic forms of the work of this body.

The main form through which the NSDC implements its activities is meetings. On each of them, all members of the Council vote personally for themselves. In no event shall delegation of authority be allowed to other persons.

People's deputies, heads of committees of the Verkhovna Rada, as well as its head (although they are not members of the Council) can take part in the meetings. According to the current legislation of Ukraine, at least two-thirds of its votes are required to adopt a decision in the National Security and Defense Council. After that, the decision taken (if there were enough votes) receives authority by presidential decree (by the way, this is referred to in the Constitution of Ukraine, in Article 107).

In order to comprehensively work out particularly complex problems that require the involvement of specialists from different fields, the NSDC is authorized in certain cases to create temporary (situational) bodies. It can be an advisory body or an interdepartmental commission. Separate provisions are prepared for delineating the terms of reference of such bodies.

It is also not unnecessary to mention that the work of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine is financed exclusively from the state budget.

Coverage of the National Security and Defense Council and Public Relations

The NSDC apparatus is represented by a whole list of various departments, divisions and sectors, each of which performs its important function. Not the least role in this series is the information and analytical service. Especially important is its activity in modern conditions, when the so-called ATO is carried out on the territory of two eastern regions of the country. The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine through this service maintains communication with the public, in particular with the press, and also informs the population about the most important news.

Information-analytical service (or the center, as it is more often called), besides purely information function, also performs analytical and predictive functions, studying the situation in the country or its individual regions. Based on this analysis, the service submits to the NSDC relevant proposals.

To date, the speaker of the center is Andrei Lysenko. The NSDC in his person constantly reports to the public and informs about the situation in the zone of military conflict. The Information and Analytical Center prepares its reports daily, covering the activities and all the news of the National Security and Defense Council. By the way, one of the recent decisions of the Council was the decision to appeal to the UN with a request to send a peacekeeping contingent to the conflict zone in the Donbass.

Andrei Lysenko - National Security and Defense Council Speaker

Andrei Lysenko was born in 1968 in the city of Donetsk. By type of activity - military journalist, and for military rank - colonel. In 1996 he graduated from the Kiev Military Humanitarian Institute (specialty - "Journalism"). He gave more than ten years of his life to the service in the Ukrainian army. In particular, Andrei Lysenko was part of the peacekeeping contingent in Iraq in 2004.

Under the previous president of Ukraine - Viktor Yanukovych - the press service of the Presidential Administration was headed by Andrei Lysenko. The NSDC appointed him to the post of speaker at the beginning of last year. He has been successfully carrying out this work to this day.

Finally...

Now you have a general idea about such an organ as the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. Obviously, the main tasks of this department are to ensure the defense capability of the state, as well as to protect the country's population in the event of external military threats or other problems. The structure of the National Security and Defense Council may include various representatives of the executive branch of government, including officials of the highest rank. It is also worth noting that in the conditions of martial law the powers of the National Security and Defense Council significantly expand, and it itself becomes almost the main body in the country in this situation.