NATO membership, neutrality, security guarantees, self-defense – there is no consensus among the Ukrainian society on the optimal and realistic security model for Ukraine that will ensure its resilience to any potential aggression after the victory over the Russian invaders and secure peace in Europe in the long term.
However, the public support for Ukraine’s course to join NATO has grown immensely since Russia’s open invasion of Ukraine on February 24. According to a survey conducted by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation in the first half of May, 74% of Ukrainians support Ukraine’s NATO membership today, while only 13% support the non-aligned status with security guarantees (the study was conducted only in the West and Center of Ukraine, where it was possible to make a correct sample).
One of the widespread narratives in Ukraine now is that there is no consensus in NATO on Ukraine’s accession. However, the situation is very flexible, and Ukraine should not give up its NATO aspirations based just on the current state of affairs. The agreements on security guarantees or other options can be intermediate and complementary solutions, however, the only realistic model seems to be Ukraine’s membership in NATO. If Ukraine remains a gray area, with not fully defined security parameters, then the threat of war will remain.
Speakers:
- Valeriy Chaly, Chairman of the Board of the UCMC
- Olexiy Haran, Professor of NaUKMA, Research Director of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation
- Pavlo Klimkin, Co-Founder of the National Center for Sustainability and Development, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014-2019)
- Danylo Lubkivskyi, Director of the Kyiv Security Forum, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014)
- Serhiy Rakhmanin, Ukrainian MP, Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.
UKRAINE IN FLAMES project is created by Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Ukrainian Catholic University’s analitical center and NGO “Euroatlantic Course”. We are aiming at searching a loud support for Ukraine in the war started by Russia on the 24th of February 2022.
If you want to support Ukraine against Russian aggression, check the link with recommendations by Ukraine Crisis Media Center – https://uacrisis.org/en/help-ukraine.
NGO Euroatlantic Course collects donations to support Ukrainian Army and civilians – https://eac.org.ua/en/main-page/.