Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that his country is applying “under an expedited procedure” to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
He signed Ukraine’s application together with parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk and Prime Minister Denys Shmygal.
“It is here, in Ukraine, that the values of our Euro-Atlantic community have been given real vital energy,” Zelensky said in a pre-recorded video message. “The strength of the nation that fights for freedom, and the strength of the nations that help in this struggle.”
He said Ukraine had “de facto” already “completed our path to NATO”.
“Today, Ukraine requests to make it de jure. Under a procedure consistent with our significance for the protection of our entire community, under an expedited procedure,” he said.
Zelensky said he understood that accession would require consensus from NATO members.
“And therefore, as this is happening, we are offering to implement our proposals regarding security guarantees for Ukraine and all of Europe in accordance with the Kiev Security Compact, which has been developed and presented to our partners.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: on Friday, alliance member states supported Ukraine’s “right to choose its own path” after Zelensky made the announcement.
And Stoltenberg warned that any decision about membership must be made by all 30 members of the alliance.
“The NATO allies, when they met at the NATO summit in Madrid, also stated very clearly that we support Ukraine’s right to choose its own path, to decide what kind of security arrangements it wants to be part of,” he said. Stoltenberg said at a press conference. .
“Every democracy in Europe has the right to apply for NATO membership, and NATO allies respect that right and we have stated time and again that NATO’s door remains open. And we have shown that over the past [few] years,” he said.
Sharon Braithwaite and Arnaud Siad of DailyExpertNews contributed to this post.