Ukrainian MPs Leonid Kravchuk, Volodymyr Zubanov, Yuriy Solomatin, and Heorhiy Kriuchkov have prepared a bill concerning Ukraine’s bloc-free status. “This bill has been prepared. It doesn’t contain anything new and is based on the Declaration of State Sovereignty and the Act proclaiming Ukraine’s independence. This document has been prepared and registered, and we will make every effort to have it passed by the Verkhovna Rada,” Kravchuk told a press conference on March 16.
The former president stressed that Ukraine’s non-bloc status will allow our country to implement its foreign political strategy and geopolitical interests more effectively. Kravchuk said that if Ukraine’s foreign policy were based on state neutrality, we would not be having problems with neighboring countries.
On March 15 the Ne Tak opposition bloc (Kravchuk is one of its leaders) organized an anti-NATO march along Khreshchatyk Street. The event involved some 2,000 persons. Some of the marchers held posters condemning Ukraine’s desire to join NATO and supporting SES membership. The march ended in a rally in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Nestor Shufrych gave a short speech. “I am especially outraged by the fact that several days ago Yushchenko signed an edict setting up a special commission and a special coordinating council, both meant to facilitate Ukraine’s admittance to NATO, and this despite the fact that most Ukrainians do not support our country’s membership in that military and political bloc.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko stressed in an interview that “our parliament has passed a resolution to the effect that Ukraine’s strategic course is set on NATO membership. I will comply.”
