The presidents of nine NATO member countries from Central and Eastern Europe underlined their support for Ukraine’s membership of the Atlantic Alliance in a joint statement issued on Sunday 2 October, following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for accelerated membership in response to Russia’s annexation of four regions of Ukraine (see EUROPE 13033/13).
“We strongly support the decision taken in 2008 at the NATO summit in Bucharest concerning Ukraine’s future membership”, said the Czech, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Polish, Romanian and Slovak presidents.
On 30 September, the Alliance’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, recalled that “every democracy in Europe has the right to apply for NATO membership; the Allies respect this right”, adding that NATO’s door remained open. “We support Ukraine’s right to choose its own path, to decide what kind of security arrangements it wants to participate in. Then, a decision on membership must, of course, be taken by all 30 Allies and we make these decisions by consensus”, he added. However, the Secretary General said the Alliance was focused on providing immediate support to Ukraine “and this is the main objective and the main effort of the NATO Allies as we speak”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)