“It is important to emphasize that, while Ukraine strives to become a NATO member, what we are asking for now is just an invitation to join – a first step in a lengthy accession process.”
Ukraine’s accession to NATO seems untimely to some since Ukraine is at war. However, by delaying the invitation to Ukraine, NATO loses a valuable asset.
Marianna Fakhurdinova, Associate Fellow at the New Europe Center, comments for Ukraine World on the arguments in favor of inviting Ukraine to NATO but not deferring the decision:
- Asset 1. Ukraine has a unique military experience of waging a large-scale war in the 21st century. Moreover, its experience is against a larger and more powerful enemy.
- Asset 2. Ukraine’s NATO membership would relieve the financial burden on members of the alliance, because it would be a contribution to the end of the war. The sooner Russia realizes that continuing its aggression against Ukraine is useless, the sooner NATO states could stop allocating large sums of money to provide military aid to Ukraine.
- Asset 3. Ukraine has already been acting in accordance with the NATO Strategic Concept, which identifies Russia as the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security, as well as to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. Ukraine joining NATO would strengthen the alliance’s resistance to the Russian threat.
- Asset 4. An invitation to Ukraine to join NATO would demonstrate the alliance’s unity and capability to respond to modern-day threats.
More details: https://is.gd/Janm2V
