Ukraine is given two years to think about it

Yesterday, the representative of the permanent delegation of the Verkhovna Rada to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA), people's deputy Andrei Shkil (BYuT) said that Ukraine has two years to decide on the prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration. “During this period, Georgia will join the Action Plan for NATO Membership. The accession of Georgia and the non-alignment of Ukraine will mean the curtailment of democratic processes in our country and the victory of anti-democratic forces in the international arena,” Mr. Shkil said yesterday, talking about the results of the 52nd plenary session of the NATO PA, which took place in Quebec (Canada) from 13 to 18 November. As the deputy noted, in the process of preparing for the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP), Ukraine is now “on par” with Georgia. However, at the 52nd plenary session, two resolutions were adopted, one of which concerned the settlement of relations between Russia and Georgia after the introduction of trade sanctions against Georgia by the Russian Federation. “It was recognized that Russia is waging a trade war against Georgia. The resolution also stated that even without the MAP, Georgia is considered as a potential NATO member,” Mr. Shkil noted.

In his opinion, there has been a pause in the process of Ukraine's integration into the alliance. “Parliament has reduced the size of our official delegation (to the NATO PA.—Kommersant) from ten people to five. Many experts in NATO are perplexed: are we speculating on the issue of joining the alliance or are we doing real work. But, despite the lack of active actions on the part of Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that NATO will try to bring Ukraine closer to the MAP,” said Andrei Shkil.

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European integration – Newspaper “Kommersant” Ukraine – Kommersant