An invitation for Ukraine to join NATO would be tantamount to its membership, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday, speaking in a press conference in Brussels following the foreign ministerial meeting's first day, as reported by Ukrinform correspondent.
Stoltenberg, in a show of unity among NATO Allies, underscored unanimous agreement regarding Ukraine’s future membership, emphasizing the intention to continue advancing Ukraine’s journey towards NATO without introducing intermediary steps.
“All Allies agree that Ukraine will become a member. We made important decisions last year, removing the requirement for a Membership Action Plan,” Stoltenberg said.
“It’s crucial to maintain a streamlined process for Ukraine’s accession, where an invitation equals membership, unlike the European Union’s multi-step procedure,” he added.
He outlined the distinction between NATO and the European Union, noting that NATO’s invitation results in swift membership, while the EU’s invitation-to-membership timeline can span years.
“That’s the difference between NATO and the European Union. In the European Union, of course, when you’re invited, it can take years from an invitation to membership. While in NATO, when you’re invited, it’s something that happens soon after,” Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg stressed NATO’s commitment to Ukraine’s membership, highlighting the need for clear assurances that the war will truly end and measures to prevent future Russian aggression.
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“Of course, when this war ends, we have to be absolutely sure that this is really the end, that it stops here. Therefore, we need to help Ukraine build its defenses to deter any further Russian aggression. But there will always be a need for security guarantees, and, of course, the ultimate security guarantee will be Article 5 and NATO membership,” Stoltenberg said.
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Comments ( 1)
Albeit it sounds like Ukraine membership is assured, it still needs to make it past the usual self-serving or putin obeying suspects (Orban, Ergogen and probably now also Fico).
It occurred to me that if NATO necessarily gets drawn into this war the distinction of Ukraine not being at war to become a member is mute. I can think of many past russian deeds these last two years that should have merited direct NATO response to russian aggression.
The fact remains that Ukraine has done more to derisk russia attacking a member than NATO has in its entire history. NATO remains a very costly insurance policy still sitting on a shelf. And just like dealing with an insurance company, once its time to draw expected benefit, it stalls for months hoping the problem will otherwise resolve itself and they can continue to draw premiums without payout.
I'm a significant tax payer in my NATO member nation. I've been pleading with NATO to get actively involved in Ukraine's defence for over 2 years..its the right thing to do.....just as they helped end Radovan Karadžić's (etc.) murderous madness the Balkin war. Stop putin now before he can regroup and become a bigger problem.
I wish our NATO insurance policy would finally pay out!