Ukraine took a further step toward seeking NATO membership Tuesday, when the country’s parliament passed a law abolishing Kyiv’s neutral, non-aligned status.
Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly scrap the non-aligned status, which was adopted in 2010 under Russian pressure and had prevented Kyiv from entering into any military alliances.
The amendment passed easily, receiving 303 votes, 77 more than the minimum required to pass into law.
“Aggression against Ukraine on the part of the Russian Federation, the illegal annexation of [Crimea], the waging of a so-called ‘hybrid war’ against our state, [Russia’s] military intervention in eastern Ukraine, permanent military, political, economic and informational pressure on the part of Russia, have forced Ukraine to seek better safeguards of its independence, sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” some of the bill’s language reads.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he will seek membership in NATO, the Western military alliance, as Kyiv fights Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said the move underscored the country’s determination to pivot towards Europe and the West. “This will lead to integration in the European and the Euro-Atlantic space,” he said.
