Major party in European Parliament calls for inviting Ukraine to join NATO at July summit
European People’s Party (EPP), largest political group in European Parliament, has adopted a document calling for Ukraine to be invited to join North Atlantic Alliance at upcoming summit in Vilnius.
It is informed by Censor.NЕТ referring to European Truth.
The EPP emphasizes that previous security decisions for Ukraine - from the Budapest Memorandum to the conclusions of the Bucharest NATO Summit - did not prevent a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and that its continued presence in the "gray zone" will only encourage Russia to repeat its aggression in the future.
The authors of the document also believe that Ukraine's membership in the Alliance is necessary, as it will strengthen NATO's forces at the expense of the Ukrainian army, unite the West around the goal of guaranteeing peace in Europe, and prevent Russian revenge.
"An invitation to Ukraine to join NATO would send a powerful signal to Putin and the most hardened imperial hawks in Russia that they finally understand that Ukraine is no longer within their reach," the document says.
Its authors believe that granting Ukraine membership will encourage Russia to make internal changes, as it will no longer be able to "succumb to imperial nostalgia again."
In conclusion, the EPP calls on the participants of the NATO summit in Vilnius to consider further steps towards Ukraine's membership in the Alliance.
"The EPP expects that the upcoming summits in Vilnius and Washington will pave the way for an invitation to join NATO and that the accession process will start after the war and be completed as soon as possible. This will strengthen our Alliance and will be another step towards a sustainable peace in Europe," the document says.
As a reminder, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna said that Ukraine expects to receive a political invitation to join NATO at the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12.
However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that although all NATO countries support the idea of Ukraine joining the Alliance it is impossible to name the exact time frame.
