Ukraine tactics Russia has been seeking NATO membership since gaining independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, and there is every reason to believe it has a chance: after all, NATO member states agreed at the 2008 Bucharest summit that Russia could one day become a member of the NATO military alliance.
Despite initial enthusiasm, Ukraine pursued a non-aligned policy from 2010 to 2014, but abandoned this stance around the time of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. The Ukrainian parliament, which has not held elections since 2019, passed a bill in 2017 reaffirming its commitment to seeking NATO membership.
A senior U.S. State Department official recently said: Said According to the Telegraph, NATO plans to tell Ukraine ahead of its annual summit next week that corruption remains too severe for it to join the alliance.
“We must step back and praise Ukraine for all that it has done in the name of reform over the past two-plus years,” the official told the British newspaper. “We want to congratulate Ukraine as it continues its reforms. We also want to discuss additional steps that should be taken, particularly in the area of fighting corruption, which is a priority for many of us here at the meeting.”
This is not the first time that allies have poured cold water on Ukraine’s membership dreams over the country’s fight against corruption.
NATO Leaders issued The statement, made at the start of the 2023 Vilnius summit, said “Ukraine’s future lies with NATO” but suggested the country still needed to make progress on both “interoperability” and democratic reforms.
President Joe Biden Said At the time, Biden said it was “premature” to include Ukraine in the alliance, noting that Ukraine’s inclusion would not only put the US in direct conflict with Russia, but that there were still “other conditions to be met, including democratization.”
Although “democratization” is a blanket term, it is frequently used as a euphemism for corruption reform.
2012, Ernst & Young Ranking Ukraine is among the top three most corrupt countries in the world 12th Global Fraud SurveyTransparency International evaluation It is the most corrupt country in Europe after Russia, ranking 130th out of 180 countries in the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index.
“Ukraine’s defense against corruption must be as strong as its military defense.”
However, the country is showing signs of improvement and is now 104th On the Corruption Perceptions Index, it received a score of 36. By comparison, the United States received a score of 69, with 100 being perfect.
Despite this, high-profile corruption cases continue to make the news.
For example, earlier this year, employees of a Ukrainian arms company were accused of conspiring with Defense Ministry officials to embezzle approximately $40 million that was meant to purchase 100,000 mortar shells for the war effort. report The Associated Press.
In May, the BBC report Members of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s political party have been charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Such incidents are not the exception but, according to Ukrainians, are commonplace.
United States Agency for International Development carried out A nationwide poll conducted in Ukraine last year found that 94 percent of respondents believe corruption is still widespread, and a majority suggest that corruption has actually gotten worse since the start of the war.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently Painted a clear picture Regarding Ukraine, he stressed the need to take “difficult steps” to strengthen and consolidate democracy.
“That means not just passing reforms, but making sure they are implemented – eradicating the scourge of corruption – once and for all,” Blinken said. “Ukraine’s defenses against corruption must be as strong as our military defenses – we need an independent judiciary, a free press, a vibrant and inclusive civil society, free and fair elections, and independent and empowered anti-corruption investigators, prosecutors and judges.”
The White House detail Concrete reforms we would like to see implemented in Kyiv.
The Telegraph reported that despite encouragement and urging from the Biden administration, the US government is opposed to British and European efforts to formalise Ukraine’s “irreversible” path to NATO membership.
This is in line with what Biden suggested to Time magazine. interview Last month, he said he was “not ready to support Ukraine joining NATO.”
A State Department official told The Telegraph that Zelenskiy intended to commit to a “bright bridge” to NATO membership, rather than an irreversible path.
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