PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
01 April 2008
U.S. Supports NATO Membership for Ukraine and Georgia
Bush urges allies to extend Membership Action Plan at Bucharest Summit
Washington -- Ukraine and Georgia can count on U.S. support when they make an initial bid for NATO membership at the 2008 Summit being held in Bucharest, Romania, President Bush says.
Democracies are the best partners for peace and security, Bush says. And since the 2004 Orange Revolution, Ukraine has become the only non-NATO member to take an active role in every alliance mission, from Balkan peacekeeping to helping Afghanistan emerge from decades of conflict and poverty, he said.
"I'm going to work as hard as I can to see to it that Ukraine and Georgia are accepted" into the membership process, Bush told Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, ahead of the April 2-4 NATO Summit. "I think it's in our interests as NATO members, and I think it's in Ukrainian and Georgian interests, as well."
"Helping Ukraine move toward NATO membership is in the interest of every member in the alliance and will help advance security and freedom in this region and around the world."
Because NATO operates by consensus, a unanimous vote in Bucharest will be needed for the two countries to be offered a Membership Action Plan (MAP), which is the first stage in gaining membership in the 26-nation security alliance. Bush said he personally appealed to the leaders of several of the alliance members, urging them to join the United States in supporting Ukraine and Georgia.
If Ukraine and Georgia eventually are successful in becoming NATO members, they would be joining former Soviet states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Under a MAP, NATO offers advice, assistance and support to nations seeking future membership, but a country will not receive a formal invitation to join NATO until it undertakes years of required political, economic and military reforms. Even after that, membership is not guaranteed. In Bucharest, three countries are seeking to graduate from MAP to membership –- Albania and the Republic of Macedonia, which became MAP countries in April 1999, and Croatia, a MAP member since May 2002.
Ukraine has started on a path to reform, holding three successful elections since 2004 and building an economy fit enough to join the World Trade Organization, Bush said. The United States will help Kyiv build on these successes with support in confronting corruption and building civil society groups. The United States also signed a trade and investment cooperation agreement with Ukraine during Bush's visit.
When asked about Russia's objections to future NATO expansion into Ukraine and Georgia, Yushchenko replied that Kyiv's alliance aspirations are intended solely to further his country's progress. "In the last 80 years, Ukraine declared its independence six times and five times it failed," he said. "This is not a policy against somebody. We are taking care of our national interest."
Bush added that "Russia will not have a veto over what happens in Bucharest," saying that the issue has figured in his recent conversations with the Russian president as the two leaders prepare to meet at the NATO Summit, and again in the Russian Black Sea resort town of Sochi April 6.
"I'm headed to Bucharest with the idea in mind of getting MAP for Ukraine and Georgia, and you shouldn't fear that, Mr. President," Bush said he told Putin. "NATO is an organization that helps democracies flourish. Democracies are good things to have on your border."
After a brief tour of Kyiv, Bush will move on to Romania for the summit, then complete his travels in Europe with stops in Croatia and Russia.
A transcript of Bush's remarks is available from America.gov.
