Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) speaks with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych (R) during the seventh Ukraine - Russia Economic Forum in Kiev, Ukraine, 18 May 2010 Photo by EPA/BGNES
A special draft law on the foundations of Ukraine’s domestic and foreign policies excludes a potential NATO membership of the country.
The draft law has already been tabled to Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, and will be voted on June 3, announced Parliament Chair Vladimir Litvin as cited by ITAR-TASS.
It has already been approved by Ukraine’s security council chair by President Viktor Yanukovich.
The draft law on foreign and domestic policies does not contain an article stating that Ukraine seeks to become a NATO member.
However, it does mention among the country’s foreign policy priorities full-fledged participation in regional and European collective security systems, and accession to the EU while keeping its good neighborly and strategic relations with Russia and the other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the loose international framework that succeeded the Soviet Union.
Among the domestic policy priorities, the draft law lists the guarantees for the constitutional rights and freedoms of the Ukrainian citizens, the development of civil society and its democratic institutions, development of state sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as the development of a competitive market economy.