Ukraine took a further step toward seeking NATO membership

Ukraine took a further step toward seeking NATO membership Tuesday when the country’s parliament passed a law abolishing Kyiv’s neutral, non-aligned status.
Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to scrap the non-aligned status, which was adopted in 2010 under Russian pressure and had prevented Kyiv from entering into any military alliances.
The amendment passed 303-8, receiving 77 more votes than the minimum required for approval.
“Aggression against Ukraine on the part of the Russian Federation, the illegal annexation of Crimea, the waging of a so-called ‘hybrid war’ against our state, Russia’s military intervention in eastern Ukraine, permanent military, political, economic and informational pressure on the part of Russia, have forced Ukraine to seek better safeguards of its independence, sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” some of the bill’s language reads.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he will seek membership in NATO, the Western military alliance, as Kyiv fights Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Although the measure passed Tuesday is not likely to have any immediate effect on Ukraine’s relationship with NATO, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said the move underscored the country’s determination to pivot toward Europe and the West.
«This will lead to integration in the European and the Euro-Atlantic space,” he said.
 

Источник: IPnews

---

---