The news of Ukraine’s first steps to join NATO have stunned Russian media. President Yushchenko, PM Timoshenko and Supreme Rada speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk have signed a letter to NATO’s Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, saying Ukraine would like to join Membership Action Plan at the NATO summit slated to take place in April 2008 in Bucharest.
As the ‘Orange Coalition’ that came to power after last Autumn’s parliamentary election began to fulfill the promises they had made before the vote, the time has come to solve one of the issues most important for them – Ukraine’s move to join NATO.
“Fully sharing European values of democracy, our state recognizes itself as part of the Euro-Atlantic security space and is ready to face universal security threats side-by-side with NATO and its partners”, - Ukrainian leaders wrote. The letter also said that the organization would soon ‘accept the progress’ Ukraine had made in reforms leading to its desired membership.
Opposition reacted to the move immediately – members of Regions Party accused the ‘Orange’ of breaching Ukraine’s constitution that provides for the country’s neutral status in world politics. Reaction from other countries also came very soon – Russia said it was ‘ready to reconsider’ its relations with Ukraine, while the US were delighted with the news.
Richard Lugar of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Ukrainians would not need to vote on the issue of joining NATO, as there are other ways fro the leadership to get approval of their decision. The senator also said that in case there is a plebiscite and Ukrainians vote for the move, their decision will be strongly supported by whoever will be American President at the time.
Regions Party leaders said the country could only apply for NATO membership if the majority Ukrainians express their support for the decision at a plebiscite. And the results of such vote are easy to predict – a vast majority is clearly against it. Back in 2006, 98.7 percent Crimeans voted against joining NATO at an unauthorized referendum.
The reasons why the ‘Orange’ want to join NATO are clear – as much as the reasons why Moscow is not happy with it.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Vladimir Ogryzko has tried to play down the tensions, saying the country did not make an application for membership but just expressed its desire to further develop its collaboration with NATO.
Anyway, the letter is another step on Ukraine’s way to North Atlantic Treaty. In case the country is approved to join the alliance, it will have to reform its army and legislation, bringing them in accordance with NATO standards, and the process may take about five years.
But does Ukraine itself really need to join (let’s leave aside the interests of Russia, the US, the Orange Coalition and Regions Party)? Of course, collaboration with NATO is crucial, maybe in the same framework as Russia’s own partnership with the organization. But the country’s former President Leonid Kuchma is certain it is best to maintain neutrality. Ukraine should clearly join the EU, but not NATO, he believes.
Another obvious thing is that Ukraine is not ready for NATO membership, be it a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ idea. Furthermore, the move to join the organization may only bring more division to the nation and already lacks unity.
Maria Krivykh
http://eng.expert.ru
