Ukraine’s parliament today voted to remove the country’s legislative block on forming military alliances, allowing the government to push forward with plans to accede to NATO.
Russia, which has been waging war in East Ukraine in a bid to exert influence over the country’s geopolitical direction, reacted bitterly to the news:
“It only fuels confrontation,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian news agency ITAR-TASS.
“It’s an illusion that adopting laws can settle the deep internal crisis in Ukraine.”
The draft law, submitted by President Petro Poroshenko, was supported by a rousing speech from Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, calling on parliamentarians to support the law to help protect Ukraine’s independence.
Passed by an overwhelming majority of 303 votes, the result was greeted by applause in the session hall. Even among the opposition, only eight deputies voted against the bill and two parliamentarians without affiliation abstained. The number of votes in favor would have been enough for an amendment to the constitution had that been necessary.
Speaking after the vote, Oleh Bereziuk, head of the parliamentary faction of Samopomich (‘Self-Help’) party, welcomed the law as ushering in a “new era of collective European security.”
Hryhoriy Nemyria, a lawmaker from Batkivshchyna party, added that Ukraine has already paid a high price for staying neutral, but the new law gives the nation all the tools it needs to change that. He was clear about the motive behind parliament’s decision to abandon its non-aligned status:
“Voting by constitutional majority to give up non-bloc status should be the first step to Ukraine’s steady integration into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” Nemyria said.
According to the lawmaker, the next steps on this path should be taken by the government, and include the adoption of a good quality annual plan for cooperation with NATO, as well as requesting from NATO details of the activities it needs to complete to become a member of the organisation.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Lyachynska can be reached at [email protected].
