Ukraine’s request to join NATO is “crazy demand”

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev declared himself against Ukraine’s membership in NATO quickly, according to agencies

His declaration came after the presidents of nine Central and Eastern European countries-Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia- called for accepting Ukraine’s application made on Friday to join NATO.

“Head of State Rumen Radev disagrees with the full text of the declaration adopted by some countries in Eastern Europe regarding Ukraine’s membership in NATO,” reads the position of the Bulgarian president.

Bulgaria and Hungary are the only two countries in the EU and NATO that do not help Ukraine with direct military aid.

Membership in the alliance requires the unanimous support of all its 30 members, and there is no fast-track procedure. NATO’s treaty includes provisions, especially the collective defence clause Article 5, that restrict accepting a candidate at war or with disputed territories.

“Bulgaria is part of the declaration from the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008 regarding Ukraine’s future accession, but this declaration was adopted in a completely different security environment. Military actions on the territory of Ukraine today require that its membership in the Alliance be discussed within the full composition of the North Atlantic Council and not lead to the risk of the direct involvement of NATO countries in the war,” the Bulgarian president’s position added.

It clarified that a decision on Ukraine’s accession to NATO should be made only after the development of clear parameters for the peaceful settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, to be accepted and implemented by both belligerent countries.

After signing an agreement in Moscow on the accession of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia, in late September, the head of Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, tried to submit a request for Ukraine to join NATO quickly.

For his part, the Slovak MP in the European Parliament, President of the Republic Party, Milan Uhrík, described Ukraine’s request to join NATO as a “crazy demand”, warning that its accession would automatically mean that the alliance would be directly involved in a war with Russia, and thus a world war.

He reiterated his party’s strong opposition to the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia and the sending of weapons to Ukraine, because this contributes to prolonging the ongoing war, and does not contribute to stopping it.

Basma Qaddour