Ukrainian leaders must use the Bucharest Summit as the impetus to start preparing their homework for the next summit.

2 to 4 NATO summit in Bucharest. Therefore, Ukraine had other goals to achieve, namely assuring member-states of its ongoing commitment to NATO and demonstrating plans for further steps toward integration.

Ukraine apparently succeeded. Ukraine’s MAP might be reconsidered in December. But more importantly, NATO for the first time publicly stated that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of the military alliance in the future.

President Viktor Yushchenko declared a victory afterwards, citing Jaap de Hoop Scheffer’s statement assuring Ukraine's eventual NATO status. Meanwhile, de Hoop Scheffer assured “the reform process will go on,” and the summit begins “a period of intensive engagement … at a high political level” to address outstanding questions related to the MAP.

Ukraine still has lots to do in preparing for its MAP. Changing public opinion is a priority. A majority of Ukrainians still oppose NATO, yet if more knew about the alliance's benefits, more would support it.

Efforts by the Ukrainian government to better inform its citizens of the pros and cons of NATO have been poor thus far. Only $500,000 was spent in 2007 on information campaigns, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For this year, slightly less than $2 million is earmarked, though not yet approved.

Ukraine’s bureaucratic and divided government has proven ineffective in executing yet another simple task. Few informational television and radio programs, publications or brochures have been noticed at all.

More money is needed. Certainly, the Russian-oriented forces will argue the Ukrainian government has more important things to spend its money on.

One option is allowing private enterprise to spread objective information about NATO. The government could hold a transparent tender offering professional public relations and strategy groups a contract to develop and implement an effective NATO information campaign.

NATO itself could get involved as well. Kyiv’s NATO Information and Documentation Centre has established a fund for seminars, conferences and similar events to raise awareness through non-governmental organizations, though it wasn't able to confirm its budget for the Post. If we need to invest in information, then let's put our money where our mouths are.

Beyond an accelerated information campaign, the Ukrainian government also needs to take further steps to ensure that Ukraine is better prepared when the December foreign ministers meeting rolls around.

That means meeting more of the scores of requirements outlined in the NATO-Ukraine Target Plan. (By the way guys, NATO wants annual inflation below 6.8 percent. So much for that exam).

Despite the MAP deferment, NATO took a dramatic step in its assurances to Ukraine and Georgia. Ukrainian leaders must use the Bucharest Summit as their impetus to stop slacking off and start preparing their homework for the next summit.