It all comes down to 3 simple steps: what obstacles stand in the way of Ukraine joining NATO

It all comes down to 3 simple steps: what obstacles stand in the way of Ukraine to NATO Anzhelika Galesevich

Ukraine is unlikely to receive a quick invitation to NATO, and certainly not to “Rammstein”. Joining the bloc is not as clear and regulated as, for example, the EU. Everything comes down to 3 simple steps.

We are talking about the invitation, discussion of membership and the actual ratification of this issue. The vice-rector of UCU, political scientist Dmitry Sherenovsky told Channel 24 about this, noting that only then does direct entry occur.

What obstacles stand in the way of Ukraine to NATO

The political scientist explained that the issue of inviting Ukraine to NATO is an exclusively political decision that must be made by all member countries of the bloc. The Secretary General puts it on the agenda and then negotiations take place. How long they will last is unknown.

In the case of Sweden and Finland, there were formal negotiations that lasted one day. But in relation to Ukraine, NATO membership can somehow be tied to the process of European integration.

I am not saying that joining NATO will only happen after joining the EU. But somehow it will be tied to issues of European integration, to changes, to reforms. This is not a quick process, suggested Dmitry Sherenovsky.

In the end, the agreement will be initialed, that is, the process of preliminary signing of the document by authorized persons.

Again, if we take the recent experience of Sweden and Finland, even the stubbornness of one country, and not necessarily in matters related to joining NATO, can slow down the process. In turn, Ukraine may face such a scenario with Slovakia and Hungary.

“First of all, we need to convince the “heavyweights”. Germany is one of those countries that is holding back even the issue of a political invitation. The meeting with Scholz in the “Ramstein” format (which was postponed indefinitely from October 12 – 24 Kanal) was supposed to be one of the points where we had to convince the Germans and the Americans, but this issue remains very difficult and ambiguous. We will have to make a lot of effort,” the UCU vice-rector summarized.

It should be noted that the head of the Vezha Public Analysis Center, Valeriy Klochok, believes that the position of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is against Ukraine's accession to NATO, is not a critical obstacle. The main problem for Ukraine is the lack of clear support from the United States.