"Energy security and effective strategic communication the civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine"

Rountable in Warsaw 25. April 2018 :

The roundtable meeting" "Dialogue between civil and governmental actors on energy security" was held on April 25, 2018 in the office of Casimir Pulaski Foundation.

It was the first workshop in the project "Energy security and effective strategic communication the civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine" sponsored by International Visegrad Fund. The project constitutes cooperation between Visegrad and Ukrainian think tanks:

1. Casimir Pulaski Foundation, Poland (www.pulaski.pl)
2. Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, Slovakia (www.sfpa.sk)
3. KNO Czech, the Czech Republic (www.kno.cz)
4. Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI, Ukraine (www.geostrategy.org.ua)
5. Center for Fair Political Analysis, Hungary (www.meltanyossag.hu)

The experts from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and Poland presented the results of the deep interview about good practices and gaps in communication between governmental and business bodies as well as civil society on the energy security issues. According to experts of the Visegrad countries and Ukraine a strategic communication in the field of energy security is primarily initiated by civil actors and energy companies, at the same time the responsibility of energy security rests with the governments.

Commenting the reply of Polish respondents on the question about who should be responsible for energy security, Dr. Natalia Slobodian, the research leader of project team, said: "All
respondents believe that it should be common responsibility both state and business with using instruments of market and non-market influence and state should guarantee the sustainable development and stability of the energy sector".

Experts have suggested that we have the lacks communication on the international level. The need to develop standards of communication, which would be checked through training and simulate emergency situations. Dr. Samuel Goda, research fellow of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association and vice-dean at the Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics in Bratislava, stressed that strategic communication on the national level works very nice but if we look on the international level it looks like "hard talk", everyone competes for market and prefer to cooperate only as a case of "crisis scenario".

Debating the issue of communication in the case of energy crisis, Michaela Karaskova, the President of KNO Czeska, underlined that communication and cooperation on the multi-
stakeholder level exists in the Czech Republic and there is no problem. "Problem can be in future because of the lobbyists in government field. Maybe we could take experience from crisis 2009 and we have to have more drills/ more practice," - she explained. "One of the respondent during deep interview said next words," - pointed out Michaela Karaskova, -"crises happen, everything changes, you need people give the information. Government is responsible for the communication and there is no adhoc scenario."

The key elements of platform for communication in the case of energy crisis between V4 states and Ukraine was in the focus of discussion. Summarizing the results of deep interview, Ukrainian expert from Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI, Vitalii Martyniuk explained: "An authorized national coordinator in the energy security sphere in Ukraine is not fixed because there are two levels of coordination - the governmental level and national (presidential - NSDCU) level, that impedes comprehensive and effective energy security communication".

Hungarian expert Andras Jenei from Center for Fair Political Analysis added that in the case of energy crisis, the only thing a V4-cooperation could do is to agree on not to abandon Ukraine in the event of a security of supply problem, due to the fact that the gas markets of Ukraine's neighbors are relatively small.

Replying the question why we need in the energy crisis communication platform, - to react on the crisis or to prevent one, Dr. Natalia Slobodian said: "We could use our cooperation to prevent the energy crisis in coming years. Moreover, look at the military sector. They regularly have so-called command and staff exercises or games. Where possible military threats and emergencies are modulated as well as the all potential scenarios how to solve or mitigate the problems or threats are in the focus of these games. I strongly believe that we should not wait for a new energy crisis we have to be ready now through simulate potential crises and looking for the best solutions".

Experts have indicated need to establish standards for the strategic communication that will be verified via drills and crisis situations' simulations. During the roundtable, a need for a regional reporting on energy situation was raised - the cooperation on this issue between the governments would improve cooperation and overall energy security in the region.
The meeting was first event of the project that will allow to organize comprehensive simulation of the energy crisis during that will take place during Warsaw Security Forum 2018 conference in October 2018. The roundtable is part of "Energy security and effective strategic communication the civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine" project carried out in
cooperation with International Visegrad Fund and partner organizations from V4 states and Ukraine: Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Association from Slovakia, Centre for Global Studies "Strategy XXI" from Ukraine, KNO Česko, spol. s r.o. from Czech Republic, and Center for Fair Political Analysis from Hungary.

Roundtable in Bratislava 24. May 2018

The roundtable meeting "Energy crisis management: decision-makers and civil society" was held on May 24, 2018 in the office of International Visegrad Fund. It was the second workshop in the project "Energy security and effective strategic communication the civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine" sponsored by International Visegrad Fund. The project constitutes cooperation between Visegrad and Ukrainian think tanks:

1. Casimir Pulaski Foundation, Poland (www.pulaski.pl)

2. Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, Slovakia (www.sfpa.sk) 3. KNO Czech, the Czech Republic (www.kno.cz)

4. Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI, Ukraine (www.geostrategy.org.ua)

5. Center for Fair Political Analysis, Hungary (www.meltanyossag.hu)

During the event experts from Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Poland presented the cross-country evaluation of the results deep interviews they have conducted with decision-makers and stakeholders in their states. Also, participants of project from Slovakia and Poland introduced the structure of energy crisis communication in their countries as well as the platform of energy crisis communication between experts and issues of information policy were discussed on the meeting.

Dr. Natalia Slobodian, the research leader of project team, introduced the Polish view on the results of deep interview with Ukrainian respondents. She emphasized, that there is a huge interest in Ukraine to develop national and regional communication in the energy security sphere. Actually, Ukraine needs in platform for internal energy communication in the triangle Government-Business-Civil Society and the experience of Visegrad countries will be useful. Moreover, creation such platform on the level V4+Ukraune it allows prevent crisis situation and promote quick response in a case of their occurrence. But it seems that there is an alarm trend, so the governmental bodies of Ukraine have not a possibility to pay for energy expertise. In the wake, using not first-hand information and sometimes fake research can influence on the decision-making process in Ukraine.

Experts have suggested that we have the lacks communication on the international level. The need to develop standards of communication, which would be checked through training and simulate emergency situations. Dr. Samuel Goda, research fellow of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association and vice-dean at the Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics in Bratislava, stressed that in the case of Slovak republic, besides the formal structures of crisis management, informal relations among governmental, business and think-tank representatives work very well, which makes the overall communication more flexible and faster.

Debating the results of interview with Polish respondents, Michaela Karaskova, the President of KNO Czeska, underlined that Polish government need to set regular small workgroups meetings with energy experts, not only meeting on conferences, and to develop the official channel of communication with expert space. "As well, Polish state bodies should be more proactive and more open for different type of communication", - she recommended

The results of interview with Slovak experts were evaluated through Ukrainian partners. In the conclusion, Vitalii Martyniuk, expert from Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI, stated: "There is very good internal communication in the energy sphere of the Slovak Republic but to reach effective strategic communication on the international level is hard because everyone competes for market... Regional communication is also good due to V4 and the EU formats".

Hungarian expert Andras Jenei from Center for Fair Political Analysis added that in the case of energy crisis, the V4-cooperation could agree on to show solidarity on an institutional level towards Ukraine in the event of a security of supply problem, as three members of V4 are the only physical suppliers of natural gas towards Ukraine from Western direction. This would be a large step from the ad hoc and in situ voluntary solidarity being present as of today. As well V4 should examine the possibility of creating an expert working group from member countries to examine the transit system of Ukraine and provide policy and technical assessments and priority lists to V4 governments and TSO's to increase gas crisis preparedness.

Mr Lubomir Chachany from Ministry of Economy of the Slovak republic and Lukasz Boguszewski from Casimir Pulaski Foundation introduced the energy crisis management communication in Slovakia and Poland accordingly.

The meeting was second event of the project that will allow to organize comprehensive simulation of the energy crisis during that will take place during Warsaw Security Forum 2018 conference in October 2018.

Roundtable in Kyiv 3. July 2018

The roundtable meeting "Strategy for the energy crisis communication" was held on July 2, 2018 in the office of Hennadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine. It was the third workshop in the project "Energy security and effective strategic communication the civil and governmental actors: V4+Ukraine" sponsored by International Visegrad Fund. The project constitutes cooperation between Visegrad and Ukrainian think tanks:

1. Casimir Pulaski Foundation, Poland (www.pulaski.pl)

2. Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, Slovakia (www.sfpa.sk)

3. KNO Czech, the Czech Republic (www.kno.cz)

4. Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI, Ukraine (www.geostrategy.org.ua)

5. Center for Fair Political Analysis, Hungary (www.meltanyossag.hu)

During the event experts from Casimir Pulaski Foundation presented a report "Making crisis simulation matter". Also, participants of the project from Hungary and Ukraine introduced the structure of energy crisis communication in their countries, as well as the platform of energy crisis communication between experts and issues of information policy, were discussed on the meeting.

Dr. Sergiy Korsunsky, Ambassador, Director of Hennadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine opened the conference. He noted that V4 countries and Ukraine share common interests in the field of security of natural gas supply and transit of Russian gas to European consumers. Therefore, it is important to develop strategic communication between above-mentioned states, to strengthen the trust between actors and improve coordination and planning of their energy policies, including in the field of crisis management.

Dr. Natalia Slobodian, the research leader of the project team, introduced the presentation about future simulation workshop, its goals, scenario and scheme. Arguing the importance of simulation games for strengthening the energy security she underlined "Let's look at the military sector. They regularly have so-called command and staff exercises or games, where military threats and emergencies are modulated as well as the all potential scenarios how to solve or mitigate the problems are in the focus of these games. It's worth to note that last time the energy issues are the part of many crisis simulations but I should stress that energy crises like a separate issue is very seldom in the focus. Nowadays the situation in the energy sector has dramatically changed, when one of the key energy suppliers declared that energy is a weapon, which will contribute to the achievement of foreign policy goals. We don't know when, where, or how big will be the energy crisis, but we should be ready to quickly react and to look for the best solutions for our countries and region as well. Actually, the simulation game is a perfect instrument for governments and decision-makers to test the situation, to modulate the crisis and finally to find the best solution. We should clearly understand that the goal of any simulation is not to win but it is a possibility to play the decision in certain circumstances".

Michaela Karaskova, the President of KNO Czeska, emphasized that military sector regularly has so-called command and staff exercises or games, where military threats and emergencies are modulated as well as the all potential scenarios how to solve or mitigate the problems are in the focus of these games. It's worth to note that last time the energy issues are the part of many crisis simulations but I should stress that energy crises like a separate issue are very seldom in the focus. As I mentioned here we don't know when, where, or how big will be the energy crisis, but we should be ready to quickly react and to look for the best solutions for our countries and region as well. Actually, the simulation game is a perfect instrument for governments and decision-makers to test the situation, to modulate the crisis and finally to find the best solution.

Vitalii Martyniuk, expert from Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI, stressed the necessity to focus on the regional dimension at the simulation within the project and proposed to group participants into three groups: governmental representatives, business, non-governmental actors. In this way regional (V4+UA) energy crisis communication can be tested.

Dr. Alrxander Duleba, Director of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association stressed that V4 - Ukraine cooperation in the field of energy should go beyond security of supply agenda and look for gradual creation of regional gas and electricity markets. In institutional terms, it should go beyond governmental structures and involve regulatory authorities, key business actors (national TSOs, national distribution and retailer companies), and last but not least civil society and independent expert communities. It should also include exchange of best practices when it comes to communication and cooperation between government - business - NGO actors on both national and regional level.

Hungarian expert Andras Jenei from Center for Fair Political Analysis added that the transit agreement between Ukraine and Russia has to be based on a trilateral agreement, being EU as a facilitator. Ukraine needs at least 40 Bcm transit volume to be able to secure the reverse flows from Hungary and Slovakia, as well to maintain the transit system. The ideal scenario is 60 bcm per year.

The participants agreed on that solidarity is not enough during an energy crisis, written agreements will be only able to fulfill the neighboring countries needs during a gas crisis.

Dr. Mykhailo Gonchar, President from Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI, stated that before developing the energy crisis communication models, it is necessary to understand what Gazprom can do according to directives from the Kremlin. It is likely that Russia can engage in active action, based not only on "gas issues", but also on a wider range creating the chaotic situation in and around Ukraine. Therefore, the gas crisis may erupt not only January 1, 2020, after the expiration of the current transit contract, but earlier, during the election campaign in Ukraine at the end of winter and beginning of spring 2019.

Director of the Department on NATO and EU of MFA of Ukraine Serhii Saienko, Head of Energy Security Department of the National Institute

for Strategic Studies Oleksandr Sukhodolia and Deputy Director of the Department of Information Security and the Development of Information Society of the National Institute for Strategic Studies Anastasiia Barovska presented Ukrainian experience of the strategic communication in the Energy sphere, including that based on the results of the Table Top Exercises "COHERENT RESILIENCE 2017" on protection of the critical electricity infrastructure in Ukraine. Participants of the discussion noted importance of defining a key institution, which is responsible for coordination of energy crisis communication at the national level, and a key national coordinator to communicate at the international level, as well as structuring this communication into single and clear mechanism fixed by a legislative act.

The meeting was the second event of the project that will allow organizing comprehensive simulation of the energy crisis during that will take place during Warsaw Security Forum 2018 conference in October 2018.

If we can be of any further assistance do not hesitate to contact Dr. Natalia Slobodian - the main project researcher +48577899921 (nslobodian@pulaski.pl).