'Ukraine – to NATO' public movement created
'Ukraine – to NATO' public movement has been set up, to facilitate the country's joining NATO.
"We, participants in the Revolution of Dignity, public and political figures, servicemen, representatives of parties, public, artistic and scientific organizations, laborers and farmers, the youth and students, initiate the creation of 'Ukraine – to NATO' movement," reads the organization's statement, the transcript of which has been obtained by Interfax-Ukraine.
The group behind the creation of the movement included the first president of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, well known politician and army general Yevhen Marchuk, Ukrainian diplomat Volodymyr Vasylenko, writer Dmytro Pavlychko, politician Ivan Zayets and former Foreign Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Ohryzko.
The main goal of the organization is to facilitate Ukraine's entry into NATO, which is, according to the initiators of the movement, the most reliable and efficient way to secure Ukraine's security.
"The fact that Ukraine is a part of Europe from a historical point of view and our neighbors are NATO members pushes us, in the current difficult situation, not to delay but on the contrary – speed up Ukraine's joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization," reads the statement.
In addition, the initiators urged the Ukrainian authorities to appeal for NATO membership and facilitate an all-Ukrainian referendum to support Ukraine's joining NATO.
At the press conference on the creation of 'Ukraine – to NATO,' Yevhen Marchuk noted that Ukraine's way to NATO would involve a lot of work for both the government and Ukrainian citizens.
"We, Ukraine, are in between the two largest military-political systems, that are not only competitors but also opposing parties," Marchuk said.
Therefore, Ukraine must make a decision to stop being a bridge between the two that "everybody can walk on," Marchuk added.