Raimonds Kaljulaid, a member of the National Defense Commission and head of the Estonian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, expressed disappointment with the decisions made at the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 12, ERR reports.
“Ukraine wanted, on the basis of Article 10 of the NATO Charter, to receive an invitation to join the alliance, but did not. It is clear that there is no unity in NATO on the issue of Ukraine’s membership. Figuratively speaking, if someone is waiting for a marriage proposal, then he is not satisfied with the promise in the style of “we can spend time together, and then we’ll see.”Kaljulaid said.
The Estonian politician blamed Western partners and his own Estonian delegation for the fact that kyiv was left without an invitation “at the end of the hall”. Among European countries, according to Kaljulaid, not all are eager to see Ukraine in the ranks of the alliance, and the Estonian delegation excluded from its requirements a statement in support of inviting Ukraine to NATO, previously adopted by the country’s parliament. .
Discouragement in Estonia was also caused by the refusal of NATO members to document the increase in military spending to 2.5% of the participating countries’ GDP. Instead, the summit members pledged to honor their earlier pledge to bring defense spending to 2% of GDP.
Let us recall that NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg announced in Vilnius the abolition of the Kiev Membership Action Plan, proposing cooperation and assistance programs instead. Speech on membership in the alliance, according to the Secretary General, can only go after a military victory over Russia.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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