NATO to assess level of support for Ukraine's membership of Alliance among Ukrainians

NATO member states will themselves assess the level of support for Ukraine's membership of the alliance among Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Volodymyr Khandohiy has said. Cabinet's press office reports.

"The high level of pubic support is one of the most important criteria for NATO membership. Accordingly, it is impossible to become a member [state] of the alliance if people are against that. We will not be just invited. Besides, NATO member states will assess themselves this support. Of course, they will make the use of our sociological and statistical data, but they have their own "thermometer" to measure the real "temperature of our body." If we analyze the NATO summit in Bucharest and investigate why Ukraine received no clear answer to its request to join the Membership Action Plan (MAP) of the alliance, one of the important arguments was the low level of supporting this idea in Ukraine," he said.

On April 3, 2008, NATO member states postponed the endorsement of a final decision on Ukraine and Georgia's joining the NATO Membership Action Plan until December 2008.