Ukraineʼs application to join NATO “formalized the dialogue.” Membership discussions will begin in mid-October
- Author:
- Kostia Andreikovets
- Date:
Ukraineʼs official application for accelerated accession to the North Atlantic Alliance formalized the dialogue on future membership. Now the discussion of this issue in the Alliance will begin at the official level.
This was stated by the Ambassador of Ukraine to NATO Nataliшa Halibarenko during a briefing, Ukrinform reports.
"As for the specific plan of action, the ball is in NATOʼs court, of course. Because after the application has been officially submitted, now the member states have to pre-discuss our application and express their position. [...] now the discussion about our future membership has acquired a formalized character. Previously, these were some unofficial discussions that we conducted somewhere on the sidelines, because the issue was not officially raised. Now this discussion will take place within the framework of the North Atlantic Council at different levels," Halibarenko explained.
One of the first discussions will be at the level of ambassadors, and the second, it is possible, will take place within the framework of the meeting of defense ministers during the Rammstein format on October 12-13.
- On September 30, after Putin announced the annexation of four regions of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an application for Ukraineʼs accelerated accession to NATO.
- The USA responded that Ukraineʼs accession to NATO is not timely. The Alliance said that the decision will be made by consensus of all 30 members. Canada, on the other hand, supported Ukraine in the Alliance. The President of Bulgaria opposed.
- The adviser to the head of the Presidentʼs Office Mykhailo Podolyak said that Ukraine held a series of consultations with NATO and the UN before submitting the application. Politico wrote that this was a surprise for the U.S.
- On October 2, the presidents of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and Slovakia issued a joint statement in which they supported Ukraine in NATO and condemned the annexation of Ukrainian territories.