The study of the policy of ensuring the territorial integrity of Ukraine, its theoretical and conceptual foundations, political-legal and institutional forms, as well as the experience of implementing this policy in the context of internal political crisis and external aggression, is carried out on the basis of relevant scientific, regulatory and legislative sources, papers of leading analytical centers of Ukraine.
Crisis in the sphere of state sovereignty and temporary loss of state control over part of the territory of Ukraine signify to the urgent need to develop and implement the systematic and effective policy of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The experience of countering internal and external threats also demonstrates the shortcomings and insufficiency of the means aimed at protecting the territorial integrity of the state performed by the current national security system.
The dissertation research has made a theoretical and methodological substantiation of the policy of territorial integrity of the state as a part of national security policy of Ukraine; the reasons for the low effectiveness of security measures and the factors that have weakened the ability of the Ukrainian state to effectively overcome the internal crisis and save territorial integrity facing to the external aggression are revealed.
The analysis of threats and challenges to national security that may cause loss of territorial integrity must distinguish the external and internal factors of their emergence and actualization. However, the complex and dynamic relationships between the external and internal security environment, which was made especially evident by the hybrid forms of external aggression, should be taken into account.
Internal factors determine the resilience of the state to challenges and threats, the presence of hidden or open conflicts between different social groups on ethnic, cultural, denominational or socio-economic grounds. If the resilience of the state is insufficient and the institutional basis of state policy is underdeveloped, then any conflict, crisis of state power or organized external interference can pose a threat to territorial integrity.
The territorial integrity of states may also be jeopardized by external interventions aimed at destabilizing the domestic political situation in the country, forcing the government to make wrong political decisions, gaining economic competitive advantages or geopolitical benefits.
One of the functions of the international security system is to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of independent states against the external interference and aggressive actions by other subjects of international politics. The relevant political and legal principles are reflected in the current international law, the UN Charter, and their implementation is proclaimed for the purpose of activity of a number of international security organizations. It should be noted that there is a discrepancy between the declared international legal principles and the real ability of the international community to ensure their implementation. Therefore, under the current conditions, the problem of securing and protecting sovereignty and territorial integrity is resolved by each state mainly by its own forces and means.
Saving the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the actual conditions is carried out in accordance with the main priorities of national security policy. It means, first, the restoration of territorial integrity through the reintegration of the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Crimean peninsula, and second, the prevention and counteraction to new attempts to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. To achieve both of these aims the Ukraine's national security system must be able to adequately assess, predict and effectively counteract internal and external threats.
At the current stage of state development of Ukraine, the development and implementation of strategic principles of national security policy is the priority task for the policy of saving territorial integrity. At the same time, it is obvious that the national strategy of reintegration of the occupied territories of Donbass and Crimea should include a sufficiently wide arsenal of means and tools, provide for the possibility of implementation of several scenarios of events, carry out the coordination of efforts of the government, diplomatic missions, central and local authorities, law enforcement agencies, armed forces, active civic organizations, media etc.
Key words: territorial integrity of the state, national security of Ukraine, self-determination of peoples, state sovereignty, territorial integrity, international security, separatism.
