You're reading: RFE/RL: Poroshenko says he plans to hold referendum on Ukraine joining NATO

RFE/RL: Poroshenko says he plans to hold referendum on Ukraine joining NATO

Published Feb. 2, 2017. Updated Feb. 2 at 2:00 pm

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko gives a joint press statement with the German Chancellor (not in picture) prior to their talks at the Chancellery in Berlin on Jan. 30, 2017.

Photo by AFP

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told German media that he is planning a referendum on whether Ukraine should join NATO now that polls show 54 percent of Ukrainians favor such a move.

“Four years ago, only 16 percent favored Ukraine’s entry into NATO. Now, it’s 54 percent,” Poroshenko told Germany’s Funke Mediengruppe newspaper chain in an interview published on Feb. 2.