NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the leaders of the Atlantic Alliance will agree on Tuesday to invite Ukraine to become a member of the organization when the allies so agree and when the country meets the conditions. Stoltenberg told a news conference that NATO “will issue the invitation when the allies agree and the conditions” necessary for kyiv’s entry into the transatlantic organization are met.
The Norwegian politician expressed himself in this regard before the media during the summit of NATO heads of state and government that is being held today and tomorrow in Vilnius. Asked about the statements by the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, while he was addressing the summit, about the fact that it is “absurd” that the alliance was not going to give an invitation date to his country, Stoltenberg stressed that the allies “have decided today on a strong , united and positive message to Ukraine about lasting support, but also a positive message about the path to membership.”
Stoltenberg said that the leaders of the allied countries also agreed today to simplify the process of Ukraine’s future accession to NATO, by agreeing to eliminate the so-called “accession action plan” (MAP) for Ukraine.
That decision means that the Ukrainian government does not have to participate in a multi-year program to demonstrate that it has carried out the necessary military, economic and political reforms to join the military alliance.
Stoltenberg explained that by removing the MAP requirement Ukraine’s NATO accession process goes from a “two-step” process to a “one-step” procedure. The allies also approved a new multi-year program that guaranteed the full interoperability of the Ukrainian forces with those of NATO.
In addition, the leaders agreed to raise the level of the political relationship by creating the NATO-Ukraine Council, a forum in which both parties will participate as equals.
