Saturday, August 18, 2007

Tymo on Nato

In a recent 'Deutsche Welle' interview Yuliya Tymoshenko was asked about her position on the entrance of Ukraine in NATO.

She replied: "First, I will say immediately that Ukraine is deeply split on this issue. It is impossible not to take this into account when formulating a policy. And therefore today political forces in the Ukraine are obliged to begin broad discussion relative to all systems of collective security in the world. Today even many policians do not know the essence of the work various collective security systems, to say nothing of the man in the street.

And therefore all current discussions on this theme - whether to enter NATO or not to enter, it is very speculative. And our political force will begin such discussions, and we are sure that Ukraine can move to this, or to another collective security system, only after conducting a national referendum. Whether politicians like this or not, they are duty-bound, with such strategic decisions, to be supported by the feelings of the people.

LEvko says NATO is not a vote-winner. Putting a policy to a national referendum some time in the future is the politicans way of 'kicking the ball into the long grass'.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very smart answer to a direct question and in the end does not clarify her position at all. But it could very well be, that this is not only because NATO is not a vote-winner but because she is against entrance into NATO but to say so publicly would damage her "West-leaning" persona.