Supreme Rada fails to ratify agreement on opening NATO Office in Kiev

The Supreme Rada of Ukraine has failed to ratify the agreement on opening of the NATO Office in Ukraine for lack of sufficient votes.

An explanatory note the government addressed to the MPs says that ratification of the agreement “will create contractual basis of the NATO Office’s activity.” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg signed the agreement yet on September 22.  At that moment Ukraine announced that for the first time NATO is opening an office having a status of embassy in a non-member country.

If ratified the agreement will give the NATO Office in Ukraine a status of a diplomatic representation with all the privileges and immunities of its staff. Via the NATO Office in Ukraine it would be possible to implement a number of projects on preferential import of equipment goods services and even special terms of cooperation.

It is noteworthy that Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Kiev last autumn and attended a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council for the first time in history of independent Ukraine.  Ukrainian media outlets reported that the NATO experts in nuclear and chemical weapons accompanied Stoltenberg.  They reported about the issues on agenda of the closed meeting in general terms.

Earlier EADaily reported the Supreme Rada amended two laws refusing its non-aligned status and setting a course for NATO. Yet experts say Ukraine cannot claim a NATO membership for the coming 20 years.