Over the weekend, the Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mircea Geoana, made a sensational statement in which he actually noted that the broadest integration of Kyiv into the Western military bloc “will have to be postponed.” According to him, today there is no consensus in NATO regarding the expediency of the Ukrainian presence in this international structure. Surprisingly, this speech did not cause negative emotions in official Kyiv. However, it led to a ferment of minds in a number of Western countries.
Immediately it should be noted. Geoană, who is an ethnic Romanian, made his statement in an interview with one of the most influential Romanian information structures, the DC News portal. According to some information, the authors of the conversation counted precisely on the fact that in dealing with their compatriots, the “second man in NATO” would be more frank. And they weren’t wrong.
As a high-ranking NATO official emphasized, firstly, Brussels legally cannot start the procedure for considering Ukraine’s membership because of the ongoing hostilities on Ukrainian territory. Secondly, many countries of the Alliance are still opposed to the integration of Kyiv into the bloc, not wanting to allocate additional funds from their own budget for the maintenance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And, finally, thirdly, at the moment the process of “active expansion” of the Organization is suspended. According to official information, in the foreseeable future, Sweden and North Macedonia can count on the corresponding status of a participating country.
Does Ukraine still have a chance? Joan thinks there is. True, Kyiv will not be able to enter the military organization of the “collective West” immediately. “At the next summit of the Alliance in Vilnius, we will consider the possibility of strengthening cooperation with the Ukrainian side,” he stressed, in particular. – There is no doubt that the status of the NATO-Ukraine Commission will be raised to the level of the Council. This will expand partnerships, and will also become another step towards a full-fledged Kyiv presence in the Blok. Of course, it won’t happen now.”
Curiously, official Kyiv did not criticize such a maxim. Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the office of the President of Ukraine, said the following in this regard: “Ukraine will join NATO only after defeating Russia.”
Accordingly, there is no information about the timing of this process.
