One of conditions for Ukraine’s accession to NATO is fight against fifth column, - Nauseda

To join NATO, Ukraine needs to implement a number of reforms. This includes the fight against the so-called fifth column.

This was stated by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda in an interview with LRT, Censor.NET reports.

Nauseda noted that on its way to the EU, Ukraine has already made "excellent progress" in implementing the European Commission's recommendations, including those related to corruption, de-oligarchisation, etc. Fighting the fifth column is also an important condition.

"This is one of the conditions, this is a very important condition, but let's face it: the fifth column is everywhere, even in countries we could not imagine, far away, even to the west of us," Nauseda said.

He stressed that the decisions of the Ukrainian authorities show that it is being "cleansed" of traitors.

"Every time I hear that someone has been removed from a high position, I rejoice because I understand that the state is being cleansed. If everything was beautiful, everything was swept under the carpet and it seemed that everything was stable in the hierarchy of power, it would raise suspicions as to whether everything was really so beautiful and good from the outside in a country where many interests collide and where Russia is trying to conduct not only open hostilities but also hybrid and disinformation and propaganda actions. No, Ukraine is being cleansed, and I think it will continue to be cleansed," Nauseda concluded.

Also read: NATO summit was supposed to be historic for Ukraine, but became compromise - BBC

To recap, in his opinion,Ukraine got the most out of the Vilnius summit. We are talking about the cancellation of the Membership Action Plan and the promise to admit Ukraine to NATO "as soon as it fulfils all the conditions" and after the war is over.