The Netherlands, Belgium, and Ukraine agree on joint actions on security and Ukraine’s NATO membership advancement.
Ukraine has signed a joint declaration with Belgium and the Netherlands, which pledged to support Kyiv’s Euro-Atlantic integration and bolster Ukraine’s military capabilities in every way possible, as reported by European Pravda, citing the communique by the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ihor Zhovkva.
“The document covers the most important topics on the joint agenda:
- meeting the urgent defense needs of Ukraine
- supporting the Ukrainian Peace Formula
- promoting Ukraine’s membership in NATO
- ensuring Ukraine’s security
- holding Russia accountable
- further strengthening anti-Russian sanctions
- development of a mechanism for compensation for damages caused by Russian aggression,” Zhovkva wrote.
In November 2022, the leaders of Ukraine and Belgium signed a similar bilateral declaration. However, in the new document, the parties substantially specified the issues of Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration. They were also able to agree on the need to address the issue of security guarantees at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, according to Zhovkva.
The importance of Ukraine’s security to the Alliance is a key element of the declaration.
A consensus exists that all of these issues, including the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine before it joins NATO, should be addressed at the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July of this year.
“By adopting today’s Joint Declaration, we have crossed a symbolic threshold – we have formalized the support of Ukraine in the Euro-Atlantic direction by 16 NATO member states, including the Netherlands. 16 of our partners – are already half of the Alliance members, including Sweden, which is expected to join soon,” Zhovkva added.
President Zelenskyy visited the Netherlands on Thursday and met with Prime Ministers Mark Rutte and Alexander de Kroo.
It is important to note Zelenskyy stated on Wednesday, following the summit between Ukraine and the Nordic countries in Helsinki, that Ukraine should become the next NATO member after Sweden joins the Alliance.
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