The first day at the NATO summit ended with Volodymyr Zelensky, like a rock star, singing the national anthem on stage in Vilnius, but he definitely did not hide his displeasure, writes Evangelos Georgiou on the pages of the publication in.gr.
Shortly before NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg retired from the press conference, he made several statements about Ukraine’s future in NATO that seem to have left Kiev with mixed feelings, to say the least. In particular, he declaredthat Ukraine will join NATO when the allies agree and all conditions are met, and that the path of its entry will change from a two-stage to a one-stage one. In short, Ukraine has not even received the schedule it asked for.
The two main obstacles to Ukraine’s accession to EU
According to Stoltenberg, there are two main obstacles to Ukraine’s entry into the Alliance. “One of them is the level or degree to which Ukrainians are engaged in modernizing their defense and security institutions, strengthening their governance, including the fight against corruption.”
Stoltenberg stresses that these issues have been addressed with each NATO enlargement: “Because we need strong governance and we also want the armed forces to be operationally compatible with NATO.”
Obviously, the problem of corruption in the Ukrainian state apparatus has not gone unnoticed by NATO.
Another aspect, according to Stoltenberg, is the fact that there is a war in Ukraine: “The Allies agree that when there is a war, it is not the time for Ukraine to become a full member of the alliance”, in other words, NATO does not want to fight directly with Russia.
Although the reporters wanted to ask the General Secretary a few more questions, he left the podium because “the leaders had to go to dinner.”
Two “sweets” from Stoltenberg
Ukraine’s entry may not have been approved like Sweden’s, but Stoltenberg announced that Kiev would be treated more favorably in terms of steps towards full membership. According to him, for the first time, NATO leaders have removed the requirement for an integration action plan, which is a prerequisite for a new member to join a military alliance.
Of course, this is nothing new for Ukrainians… As early as Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba gleefully announced that NATO had decided to cancel the requirement that Kiev comply with the action plan for joining the alliance.
It should be noted, however, that the Ukrainian minister was somewhat hasty, as countries such as the United States and Germany still argue that the formal – technical – accession process must be followed in the case of Ukraine, while other states such as like Poland and the UK, believe that “inviting” Ukraine to membership would be, in fact, a political decision.
Aid package for Ukraine
Stoltenberg’s second proposal, designed to reassure Ukrainians, is a new multi-year aid program to help Ukraine transition to NATO training standards. Stoltenberg described these statements as “a strong package of assistance to Ukraine and a clear path to its NATO membership.” In particular, it will create new NATO-Ukraine Councilin which the Alliance and Ukraine will “meet as equals” and the first meeting with President Zelensky will take place on Wednesday, July 12.
In their statement, NATO officials said, among other things, that in order to support Ukraine’s integration into NATO, they have agreed to a substantial package of enhanced political and practical support:
“We have decided to establish the NATO-Ukraine Council, a new joint body in which the Allies and Ukraine will participate as equal members, to promote political dialogue, interaction, cooperation and Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations for NATO membership. It will include joint consultations, adoption decisions and activities, and will also serve as a mechanism for crisis consultations between NATO and Ukraine. Continued provision of essential non-lethal assistance to Ukraine from NATO, as part of the Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP), remains a priority.”
“Since the Madrid summit, allies and partners have committed more than €500 million to the implementation of the aid package. To support the containment and defense of Ukraine in the short, medium and long term, we agreed today to further develop aid into a multi-year program for Ukraine. The assistance provided will help restore security and defense sector of Ukraine, and will facilitate its transition to full interoperability with NATO. Allies will continue to finance the VPA on a stable and predictable basis. We welcome and encourage contributions from partners,” the statement said.
Glory to #Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!
In the center of #Vilnius, a flag brought from #Bakhmut was raised 🇺🇦
🎥 @suspilne_news pic.twitter.com/Y86Gd1gYH8
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) July 11, 2023
Absurd, but we want NATO
“Even if there are different positions, it is clear that Ukraine deserves to be a member of the alliance,” the Ukrainian president said in an address earlier in the day. “Not now, there is a war going on, but we need a clear signal. And we need it now.”
Even before Stoltenberg’s speech, the President of Ukraine, visibly annoyed by what he was told, said: “It seems that there is neither a willingness to invite Ukraine to NATO, nor to become a member of the alliance […] For Russia, this is an incentive to continue its terrorist operations.”– said the Ukrainian leader, naming “unprecedented and absurd” what “the terms of neither the invitation nor the membership of Ukraine have been determined.”
Shortly thereafter, Zelensky, speaking to a crowd gathered in the center of Vilnius, said that “NATO will provide security to Ukraine. Ukraine will make NATO stronger!”indicating that there is no other way for his country, even if the West delays in accepting …
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the opinion of the editors.
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