The Embassy of Ukraine to the UK and the British Ukrainian Society would like to invite you to a discussion on 30 January at 7 pm in the Macmillan Room, Portcullis House about why Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity are crucial for the whole of Europe, and the wider international community, in the face of Russian aggression and how to counteract this threat to international security.

Our esteemed speakers are:

 

 

Dr Volodymyr Ogryzko

Dr Volodymyr Ogryzko (PhD History) began his political career in 1978 when he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine as an Attaché in the Press Department. Between 1992 and 1996, he was a Counsellor in the Embassies of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Austria. In 1996-99 he served as the Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration in Kyiv, Ukraine. Between 1999 and 2004 he was Ukrainian Ambassador to the Austrian Republic, and Permanent Representative to the OSCE and other international organisations in Vienna.

From February 2005 to December 2007 he was First Deputy Minister, Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.  Ambassador Ogryzko served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs between 2007 and 2009. He then became the First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine from 2009 – 2010.
Since 2014 Dr Ogryzko has been the CEO of the Centre for Russian Studies.  In 2016 he joined The Independent Defence Anti-Corruption Committee (NAKO). NAKO is a joint initiative of the UK-based Transparency International Defence & Security Programme, and Transparency International Ukraine. 

The Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind KCMG QC 

Malcolm Rifkind was born in Edinburgh in 1946. He was educated at George Watson's College and Edinburgh University where he studied law before taking a postgraduate degree in political science. In 1970, he was called to the Bar in Scotland and practiced as an Advocate until 1979. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1985. In 1974 he was elected as MP for Pentlands and represented that constituency until 1997. Sir Malcolm was appointed to the Front Bench in 1975 but resigned over devolution in 1977. 

In 1979, when the Conservatives were returned to power under Margaret Thatcher, he was appointed a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, at first in the Scottish Office and then, at the time of the Falklands War, he was transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, being promoted to Minister of State in 1983. He became a member of the Cabinet in 1986 as Secretary of State for Scotland. In 1990 he became Secretary of State for Transport and in 1992 Secretary of State for Defence. From 1995-97 he was Foreign Secretary. In 1997 he was knighted in recognition of his public service.

Sir Malcolm was re-elected as a Member of Parliament in May 2005 for Kensington and Chelsea. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Kensington in May 2010 and remained in Parliament until 2015.

He served as UK representative on the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group 2010-2011 and as Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, which provides oversight of the UK’s intelligence agencies, MI6, MI5 and GCHQ, from 2010 until 2015. He was a member of the OSCE’s Eminent Persons Group, which reported on relations between Russia and the West. He also serves on the Board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington DC. He has been appointed a Visiting Professor at King’s College, London and is a Senior Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). In 2017 he was invited by the British Government to become Co-Chairman of the Polish-British Belvedere Forum. 

Please feel free to invite your friends and colleagues to this event.

Anyone who would like to attend should please RSVP to [email protected] at their earliest convenience.

Due to tight security and the potential for queues, we would advise you to allow at least 30 minutes to enter Portcullis House.  A map and further instructions will be sent in due course to those who RSVP.