Ukraine is satisfied with the level of its cooperation with NATO, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ihor Harchenko stated at an October 7 joint meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Political Committee and Inter-Parliamentary Council.
He called “seeking possibilities to convert Ukraine-NATO relations to a format, which would define by its form and, more important, content the beginning of Ukraine and NATO’s joint preparations for our country’s future membership in the alliance” an immediate priority. Mr. Kharchenko remarked that a priority task for all ministries and departments involved in the process is to proceed with the implementation of the Ukraine-NATO Action Plan so that alliance experts could evaluate its results. In his turn, Deputy Chairman of Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Zinchenko stressed, “We consider the course for wide integration into European, Euro-Atlantic, economic, political, and security structures one of the fundamentals of Ukraine’s foreign policy, security, and defense doctrine.” In his words, the issues under discussion are “key notions of the doctrine of national development.” An important component of this course is Ukraine’s striving for full NATO membership.
Mario Palombo, Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, stressed that cooperation with Ukraine is essential for stability, adding that Ukraine and NATO’s representatives should reach the scheduled goals together. Markus Meckel, head of the NATO Subcommittee on Central and Eastern Europe, stated that NATO is interested in Ukraine developing in an appropriate way and creating proper structures for cooperation with the alliance. Mr. Meckel stressed that Ukraine and NATO have common goals, which they should cooperate to solve, reports Interfax-Ukraine.
