Will Ukraine manage to join NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the Bucharest summit, and will US support be enough for this? These and other questions are answered in The Day ’s blitz interview with Volodymyr OHRYZKO, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
“Each country chooses the particular form of ensuring its security that suits it. We know that Russia has a different point of view on this issue. However, this is Ukraine’s business.”
Have all the possible consequences of such a move been calculated, considering that for most citizens security issues are abstract notions?
“Security is very concrete because at issue are the foundations of national strategy and development of the country. Joining NATO, first of all, means bringing our society up to the highest existing standards, and aspects of security only come after that. But without a doubt they cannot be unimportant. As I have already mentioned, the question is how we are going to ensure that security, and whether we will remain between blocs, experiencing certain influence from both sides, or whether we will become part of this security space. That is why the choice is absolutely clear, and we can count on our ability to reform our society within a short period of time to the level that will enable us to approach the issue of full membership.”
Will the Ukrainian government be able to provide stability in the country, which has to demonstrate that there is no serious conflict in society around this issue, as there was during the elections, before the NATO summit in Bucharest on April 2-4?
“We have made the first move. I officially handed NATO’s Secretary General a letter with a request for Ukraine to join the MAP. Since then the internal procedures that stipulate further consultations and discussions have begun inside the Alliance. Will two months be enough for this? It depends on our partners in the Alliance. Like any organization, NATO is a bit of a bureaucratic structure. But we hope that this time the Alliance will demonstrate its efficiency and ability to make decisions quickly. We will be very pleased if a decision is adopted soon.”
That’s what I mean: will the Ukrainian government have enough will to demonstrate its consistency, not only before Bucharest but later on, to move towards full membership?
“This is written in the government’s program of actions. It is stated clearly there that we are moving in that direction. There is no doubt about this.”
Do you think US support will be enough to convince the members of the North Atlantic Alliance to grant Ukraine the desired MAP status?
“I that NATO is adopting decisions about this or that move. I don’t know if an individual country has the right to veto a decision made by the Alliance. That is why I think that the NATO countries’ opinion is decisive. It seems to me that the majority of the Alliance members have made up their minds in favor of Ukraine.”
