There have been times in the last three years when Andreas von Beckerath felt more like Ukraine’s ambassador to Sweden than Sweden’s ambassador to Ukraine, which is his actual job. “I’ve probably spent as much time promoting Ukraine in Sweden as I have spent promoting Sweden in Ukraine,” he said.
Beckerath returns to Stockholm on July 1 for his next assignment, but isn’t ready to let go of Kyiv yet.
“I’ve had the three best years of my working life here,” Beckerath told the Kyiv Post in an interview on June 7. “When I look back at my career when I retire, I’m quite certain I will look back to this time as the most inspirational and memorable period of my career. My family feels the same way. We’re not going to deny that we’re depressed about leaving.”
Ukraine’s best friend?
What Beckerath found amazing is “the energy I have received from Ukrainian civil society and Ukrainian people eager to change their society.”
Among the diplomatic corps in Ukraine, Beckerath has enthusiastically embraced both the ceremonial and substantive aspects of the job. He is visible in the community, attending many events while pushing for Swedish priorities designed to strengthen Ukraine’s fledgling democracy and shaky economy.
He is in a good-natured competition with other European ambassadors for the title of “Ukraine’s best friend in Europe.”
Sweden makes a strong claim – giving €25 million annually in bilateral assistance through 2020 through the taxpayer-funded Swedish International Development Agency. It’s a comparatively generous sum of money for a nation that, while one of the richest in the world, has only 9.6 million people. Additionally, the Swedish government has spent €14 million on humanitarian aid since Russia’s war against Ukraine started in 2014, as well as loans and other assistance.
Sweden is one of the few nations that gives the United Nations-recommended 0.7 percent of its gross domestic product as foreign aid; the nation shoots for 1 percent of GDP, Beckerath said. One reason for the global strategy is economic self-interest: Almost 50 percent of Sweden’s GDP is from export revenue, he said.
The three Baltic states, his four Nordic neighbors and Poland can also compete for the title of Ukraine’s best friend in Europe. They are among nations who stake out a hard line against Russia in support of Ukraine, helping to make sure that Kremlin softies don’t go wobbly on Vladimir Putin until he returns Crimea to Ukraine and ends Russia’s war.
Energy efficiency
More than half of bilateral aid goes to helping Ukraine become energy efficient, something Sweden knows a lot about. Sweden also relies on renewable sources for more than half of its energy supply, according to its government.
“Energy efficiency is the silver bullet when it comes to solving energy challenges,” Beckerath said. The “most impressive achievements” during his tenure have taken place in Ukraine’s energy sphere, he said. Before, Ukraine’s energy policy amounted to “economic madness,” he said. “To import expensive gas and use 8 percent of GDP to subsidize it. It created the single largest source of high-level corruption and took away any incentives for Ukraine to save energy.”
Other assistance goes to strengthen market development, democracy and human rights – especially independent media and civil society; and good governance – particularly decentralization.
Independent media
“Independent media is at the core of our support for democratic and human rights,” Beckerath said. “It’s one of the most important assets in the country. I’m not naïve about the oligarchs’ influence on the TV media – 85 percent of people get their news and information from TV, which is almost entirely controlled by oligarchs. That is of course something that needs to be changed.”
He wants to see a strong public television station emerge akin to the Swedish public broadcaster. In Ukraine, Sweden supports Hromadske TV, the Media Law Institute and other initiatives.
Gender equality and equal rights for homosexuals also rank high.
Tougher love needed?
But just as great friends sometimes overlook flaws in each other, some Ukrainians wonder whether the cheerleading of Western ambassadors in Ukraine may be damaging the nation’s future prospects.
Some Ukrainian lawmakers and civil society leaders think that foreign friends should do more to side with the people rather than their distrusted leaders. The argument is made that some Western aid effectively props up corrupt ways of the ruling elite – such as the International Monetary Fund’s refusal to condition loans on a successful overhaul of the courts or the prosecutor’s office.
Moreover, lawmakers such as Hanna Hopko, Sergii Leshchenko and others want the West to impose sanctions on Ukrainian leaders who obstruct human rights or rule of law. Such civil society leaders as Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, further argue that Ukraine’s law enforcement institutions aren’t doing their job – and that new institutions, even if they survive sabotage, will take years to work. In the meantime, Ukraine continues to be looted by corrupt insiders.
Kaleniuk and others argue that only emergency foreign intervention – through special legal powers and oversight of investigators, prosecutors and judges focusing on the worst crimes – is capable of bringing justice in the short term.
Some of these ideas are bridges too far for Beckerath to support.
With all of Ukraine’s talent, he said “it is slightly awkward to look abroad to fill the most important spots of Ukrainian institutions… the road ahead needs to be appointing Ukrainian officials who have a clear understanding of rule of law and who are truly independent. On the sanctions issue, it’s the Ukrainian officials who need to investigate and build some cases against corrupt officials and corrupt businessmen.”
‘Biggest disappointment’
That said, Beckerath acknowledged: “The biggest disappointment is the notion of rule of law. I spent time talking on Maidan. The most common response I got was: ‘We want to live in a normal country.’ It’s such a humble, modest wish. ‘We want no more, no less: that regardless of political influence or wealth, everyone is equal.’ There Ukraine still has a very long way to go.”
International pressure on Ukraine’s leaders and close working relationships with civil society are key, he said. “Our most important partner is civil society. They are the ones who can help us assess whether progress has been made.”
NATO friendly
Neither Ukraine nor Sweden are members of NATO, the security alliance soon to have 29 members with Montenegro. While Sweden has tried to preserve its neutrality, it clearly throws in with the democratic West. It is a partner of NATO that participates in military exercises and cooperates in other ways. After nearly 25 years of dithering, Ukraine now wants to join NATO but is years away from meeting requirements.
Russia has warned both nations not to join NATO. The threats draw Sweden and Ukraine closer together.
“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the illegal annexation of Crimea, is the biggest threat to the European security order since the end of the Cold War,” Beckerath said. “Our government does not believe that the best response to a more assertive Russian policy is joining NATO, but rather working with our partners and allies. At the core of Swedish foreign policy is the principle that it’s up to every country to decide its own security policy. That is probably the most important reason that our response to Russian aggression has been so firm.”
‘No free ride’
Sweden supports Ukraine’s EU aspirations, partly because “we have seen the transformative effect that EU integration has had on other Eastern European countries – the Baltics, Poland and Central European counties.”
None of these countries, however, got “any political rebates,” the ambassador said. “We would like to see the same approach to Ukraine. There is nothing unconditional, no free ride.”
June 13 business forum
Among Beckerath’s last events in Kyiv is the 5th Sweden-Ukraine Business Forum on June 13 at Art Hall D12, 12 Desyatynna St.
For the event, he cut a two-minute video promoting Swedish innovation, the theme of the conference.
He highlights Sweden’s invention of such items as the ball bearing, by engineer Sven Gustaf Wingqvist in 1907; the three-point seatbelt, by Volvo employee Nils Bohlin in 1959; the ultrasound, by physician Inge Edler in 1953; the zipper, by engineer Gideon Sundback in 1913; Skype, by entrepreneur Niklas Zennstrom in 2003; the cyclist’s airbag, by Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin in 2006; and the safety match, by Gustaf Erik Pasch in 1844.
At the end, he re-enacts (sort of) actor Jean-Claude Van Damme’s classic “Epic Split” stunt from the top of rear view mirrors between two Volvo Trucks going in reverse. Beckerath wisely took the much safer option of straddling two parked trucks at tire level. Originally, he was supposed to stand on top of the trucks. “I realized how high the trucks are when I came to the site,” Beckerath said. “Then I chickened out.”
Swedish Ambassador to Ukraine Andreas von Beckerath spoofs actor Jean-Claude Van Damme’s classic “Eplc Split” in a promotional video of the 5th Sweden-Ukraine Business Forum on June 13 at Art Hall D12, 12 Desyatynna St.
Andreas von Beckerath
Age: 45
Nationality: Swedish
Family: Wife, two children, 12 and 10.
Job: Ambassador to Ukraine
How to succeed in Ukraine: “It’s all about the people and all about the partners you find.”
