Ukraine expects concrete steps towards its accession to NATO

 

 Ukraine expects concrete steps towards its accession to the Alliance over the next ten years from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishina in an interview with the German newspaper Der Spiegel.

"It is important for us to see concrete steps (on the part of the organization) over the next ten years to accept Ukraine as a member," she said. The deputy prime minister added that the exact date of the country's accession to NATO was still unclear. According to Stefanishin, Russia's "aggressive aspirations" will only increase, and Ukraine's entry into the Alliance is a crucial means of overcoming them.

 At a summit in Bucharest in April 2008, NATO adopted a political statement that "Ukraine and Georgia will eventually become members of the Alliance", but refused to provide the two countries with an Action Plan to prepare for membership, a first step in the legal procedure for accession of a state to the organization. In February 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved amendments to the constitution that set out the country's aspirations to join NATO. Ukraine has also received the status of a partner of an organization with enhanced capabilities.