President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree approving the annual national program under the auspices of the Ukraine-NATO Commission for 2019.

Before signing, Poroshenko noted that this document should become a "road sign," a "roadmap" on the way of Ukraine's movement to the North Atlantic Alliance.

The document was signed in Kyiv on April 10 in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Kostiantyn Yeliseyev, former Foreign Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Ohryzko and representatives of the public.

"I would like to state that this is an extremely important roadmap showing what Ukraine should be doing [...] what programs it should implement in order to attain the objectives as I have set as president, so the country meets the criteria for signing a NATO Membership Action Plan in 2023," he said.

The program envisions the reform of not only the defense sector but also the security sector, he said.

"This comprehensive document means that our army will meet NATO standards not only with regard to weapons but also with regard to tactics, operational principles, and strategy," Poroshenko said.

"De facto, we have already become NATO's eastern flank," as NATO officers and Ukrainian service members "have worked to improve our defense capability" at training centers and ranges, he said.

The program has been drawn up at a time "when some are planning one day to hold referendums, and then the next day discuss whether they should go or not, and where to go," Poroshenko said.

The annual national program under the aegis of the NATO-Ukraine Commission is a program of strategic reforms and other procedures to ensure Ukraine's efficient, purposeful, and systemic preparation for NATO membership.

The program is focused on achieving compliance with the NATO membership criteria, improving democracy, political, economic, and judicial reforms, reforms of the election regulations, education, science, and healthcare sectors, maintaining economic growth, continuing anti-corruption efforts, improving the wellbeing of the people, reforming the security and defense sector in keeping with NATO's recommendations, and transforming the national armed forces in compliance with NATO standards.