Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukrine Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that the allies have reached consensus on removing the NATO Membership Action Plan from Ukraine's path to membership.
In this way, Ukraine can join NATO according to a somewhat simplified procedure, which is similar to the one by which Finland has already joined the Alliance and Sweden is waiting for it to join.
Read more: What Makes DPICM Cluster Munitions Special and Why are They Essential For the Armed Forces of Ukraine
At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the talks on the final declaration of the upcoming NATO Summit about Ukraine are still in progress, and, therefore, it is not yet time to comment what language will be used in it.
Stoltenberg said that consultations were in progress and other meetings were yet to be held on Monday. He also expressed confidence that all allies will agree on a very clear message to Ukraine. No final decision has been made yet, Stoltenberg said, adding that at the summit the allies will show unity and send a strong message to Ukraine.
It should be noted that the implementation of the MAP took place in 1999 based on the experience of NATO expansion after the accession of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The purpose of the MAP was to adapt the country to joining the Alliance by carrying out reforms in a number of spheres that were not directly related to defense - political, economic, legal.
In particular, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia were the first to go through the MAP, which took them five years. But this process could stretch for quite a long time, for example, Montenegro received the MAP in 2009 and became a member in 2017, North Macedonia was in this status from 1999 to 2020.
The only country to which the MAP is currently applied is Bosnia and Herzegovina, which received it in 2018 and declared its intention to join it back in 2010.
At the same time, the MAP is not a legal requirement for joining NATO and may not be applied when the country already meets the requirements of the Alliance. But it should be noted that now the global security situation is radically different than it was during the Cold War, and completely different than it was between 1991 and 2022.
But it should be noted that the unlikely cancellation of the MAP for Ukraine means that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance right during the summit in Vilnius, which starts on Tuesday, July 11. Most likely, this will become possible only after the Victory of Ukraine…
Read more: It Became Known US Position Concerning Security Guarantees for Ukraine on NATO Summit
