NATO as a test for the new government
Volodymyr OHRYZKO: “We need, just as the coalition agreement says, to get rid of the shameful and totally ineffective so-called non-aligned status”
This year will certainly be remembered in Ukraine for a long time, and not just because it saw another revolution, which, unlike the Orange one, turned out to be bloody, but also because, following the annexation and illegal occupation of Crimea by the Kremlin and the Russian aggression in the east of the country, the vast majority of people have finally realized that the national security is more than just empty words. We have learned that neither the Budapest Memorandum, nor numerous multilateral and bilateral agreements with Russia, nor the Helsinki Act of 1975 truly guaranteed the integrity and sovereignty of our nation. The Russian aggression forced the majority of Ukrainians to see the light and realize that security of Ukraine can be guaranteed only by it joining NATO, an organization that operates on the principle of “one for all and all for one.”
But it was also a lesson in security affairs for the Ukrainian elite who failed to bring to an end what was started 12 years ago. Let us recall that due to active position of Yevhen Marchuk, then Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, it was decided on May 23, 2002, to integrate into Euro-Atlantic structures. The NATO membership as a national objective was enshrined by the Verkhovna Rada in the Law “On National Security of Ukraine” a year later, on June 19, 2003.
At a joint press conference with President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite, held on November 24, Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko said that the issue of a possible accession to NATO should be resolved by referendum. What is your assessment of this response of the Ukrainian government to Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s skeptical statement?
Volodymyr OHRYZKO, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine:
“I think that Ukrainians have finally seen the light and detected where the threat comes from. That is, everyone has done so apart from a few percent of absolute outcasts who will not be won over by anything. A recent poll has shown that the vast majority of Ukrainians are in favor of NATO membership. All have seen what peace, strategic partnership, and love our eastern neighbor is bringing to us. Therefore, if the authorities were to put the question bluntly, then, even without any additional explanations, every reasonable citizen will certainly choose the answer ‘yes’ to the question ‘Do you think that Ukraine should become a member of NATO?’ Of course, the people will vote ‘yes.’ Therefore, even if it is done through a referendum, I have no problem with it in this case. Yes, it will be the people’s will, and no Western politician will be able to offer any arguments to counter it. After all, the people is sovereign, while the government just acts on the people’s demands.
“On this, position of Ukraine is absolutely clear. Now we need, just as the coalition agreement says, to change the status, to get rid of the shameful and totally ineffective so-called non-aligned status, because it has only led to what we have today: the military and the entire security system in disarray, and as a result, an aggressor who allegedly guaranteed our security and territorial integrity. Therefore, we need to get rid of it immediately. Secondly, we have to put the question bluntly to our Western partners that we now need a shift from the annual national program to the Membership Action Plan (MAP), which is more effective. Thus, we need to get the MAP, to implement it for several years to achieve the appropriate criteria, and then apply for membership. All our western neighbors have gone down this path, it is completely understandable and transparent, and we just need to go down it.”
