Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany -- Delegates from Ukraine, United States, European Union and the Russian Federation reached a peaceful solution ending two years of conflict in Ukraine at the George C. Marshall European Center, Feb. 9.
News of that agreement would make headlines, if true.
Instead, the signed "Garmisch Accord" represents the determination and hard work of 41 government and military professionals from 26 countries who examined regional security in detail and reached a shared perspective to resolve a regional crisis; one of the main objectives of the Marshall Center's three-week, Seminar on Regional Security.
"We told the participants when they started this course, negotiating a peaceful solution to a regional conflict such as Ukraine is like an international taxi ride. Each nation is a passenger in the back seat shouting directions to the driver. You, the students, are the drivers…the diplomats….whose job it is to get everyone to the same destination," said German Luftwaffe (Air Force) Col. Jörg Kunze, executive director for the Seminar on Regional Security Studies.
The George C. Marshall European Center's approach to developing regional perspectives to security situations was as close to reality as any seminar could ever be. Participants met and heard from U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey R. Pyatt; Ukraine Vice Parliament Speaker, Oksana Syroyid; European Union Institute for Security Studies Director Dr. Antonio Missiroli; Bundeswehr Military Attaché Christian Farkhondeh; Deputy Ministry of Defense for Ukraine Ihor Dolhov and the Representative of the German Delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Claus Neukirch. Each official shared their respective views on the current security situation in the region.
Seminar participants were divided into four delegations representing Ukraine, United States, European Union and the Russian Federation. Original documents like the Minsk Agreement package establishing the current ceasefire in Ukraine were course materials used by the delegations.
"Committees were formed and negotiations commenced. The delegations reconvened with their delegation head at the end of each day. Marshall Center faculty served as the secretariat to make sure protocols were followed. The only difference between our seminar and real life is we allowed all of the participants to watch and listen to deliberations among the four leaders of each delegation. In real life, those delegations are kept private," said Kunze.
To bring even more realism to the Garmisch Accords, the Deputy Head of Mission from the Office of the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Peace Talks on the conflict in Ukraine Marian Staszewski acted as advisor to guide participants.
"There was a high level of professionalism during this conference which includes very good statements by the head of the delegations. The discussions here in Garmisch are more rational and less emotional and that's not always the case during the Minsk discussions. Some people say it's the force of the arguments, not the arguments of force that marks the difference between Minsk and here," Staszewski said to the seminar after the exercise.
The one stark difference from reality was there was no Russian Federation representation. But the selected participants who assumed the role of the Russian delegation couldn't have made the exercise more true-to-life.
Ukraine Col. Ihor Kosiak is his nation's Chief of Territorial Defense Department and its Main Operational Director. His job is to make sure national facilities are safe and secure. When the Russians invaded Ukraine in 2014, he said he was part of the "anti-terrorist" operations and fought in the conflict. Colleagues he knew gave up their lives and many others were injured. Today, his parents still live in an area close to the fighting and he doesn't want them to end of living in conditions like what happened in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Kosiak gladly accepted the role as head of the Russian Federation delegation.
"I want to try to look at situation from the point-of-view of the Russian Federation and find a solution to the conflict in a peaceful manner and is achievable," said Kosiak. "Personally, I didn't see this as something new to me. I know a lot from current documents used at Minsk cease fire and info I received here at the Marshall Center. This exercise helped me reorganize my thoughts from other points of view and that might be a better point of view."
The zeal and intensity Kosiak took in his appointed leadership position caught the attention of other participants and Marshall Center faculty.
"Col. Kosiak is a very special leader. I can see him doing many more great things for Ukraine," said Dr. Gregory Gleason, Marshall Center Program Director for Central Asia and faculty advisor for the Russian Federation seminar.
Participants from ten other European nations were also part of the seminar team representing the Russian Federation point-of-view. Many of them struggled with the challenge to see things from that perspective.
"My seminar agreed it could be a good experience for us, to rethink our position on Ukraine, and look at the situation from other viewpoint. Sometimes we don't look deeply into details in the documents and agreements our government has signed. This exercise has given us better understanding of how those agreements were made and accomplished. In fact, sometimes the Ukraine position looks weak when we think about consequences of resolving this conflict", said Kosiak.
This wasn't Kosiak's first time at the Marshall Center. He was here in 2012 when he attended a tailored seminar for Ukrainian leaders. The most important aspect of being here he said was the ability to talk to other participants from other nations, learn from them, and create strong relationships.
"It wasn't just the seminar. Our breakfasts and dinners became a long conversation among participants where shared thoughts and ideas and other points of view. I just look around and remember what has been told to me from my Kazakhstan and Armenian colleagues. They had a lot of questions on how we are handling Russian concerns because they have the same ones," said Kosiak.
Kosiak and the other 41 participants are very happy they could share perspectives on Ukraine's plight and come up with a peaceful solution.
Does he believe the Garmisch Accord could provide a road map to peace for his nation's current crisis?
"In real life I'm not Russian. I'm not a representative of the Russian Federation. Even where I am right now here at the Marshall Center, I always think I'm a citizen of Ukraine. I know there are some points that Russian representatives would be more strict and rigid. The Garmisch Accord would probably work from the U.S., Ukraine and EU perspective. But the Russian Federation I don't think right now are interested in resolving the conflict," said Kosiak.
The Marshall Center's Seminar on Regional Security Studies finished Feb. 11. The course convenes once a year. More information about the Marshall Center can be found online at www.marshallcenter.org.
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