04 June 2010, 18:37
Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, believes that Ukrainian Authorities can rightfully raise a Question concerning Neutral Status of the Country
Asked by Rada television channel on Friday, V.Lytvyn criticized statement of the question on Ukraine´s refusal from accession to NATO in the bill on the fundamentals of domestic and foreign policy adopted at the first reading.
V.Lytvyn supposes that declaration of the non-aligned status of Ukraine is a political approach aimed at "the struggle for public electoral moods." V.Lytvyn made it a point that neutrality is a generally accepted norm in the international law, while no country in the world proclaims itself non-aligned.
The Head of the Parliament objects to "pinpointing attention" on the issue concerning accession to NATO or refusal from it. He calls for considering the "policy of permanent neutrality." "It will be clear for everyone, since we currently have a paradox: Ukraine cooperates with NATO on a wide range on issues, following the annual cooperation program with this organization, while declaring a non-aligned status at the same time", he stated.
V.Lytvyn believes that "we should not play on definitions, but clearly determine our status as a neutral state, as we have all the prerequisites." "We have refused from the nuclear capabilities; there is a corresponding memorandum on the guarantees of security and territorial integrity on the part of nuclear states; the resolution on refusal from highly enriched uranium has been adopted", he explained. Therefore, he calls for "suspending tiring confrontation concerning accession or non-accession to NATO, maintaining our life instead."