Facing Russia, Ex-Soviet States Need NATO

Joining alliance key to security, Ukraine's president says

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 26, 2008 1:03 PM CDT

(Newser) – Russia's military actions in Georgia sent shudders throughout the region, Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko writes in the Guardian. Not only did the war reveal the Kremlin's willingness to commit "massacres" for political gain; it also exposed the weakness of the UN and European security organizations. The West needs to send peacekeepers—and continue the NATO accession process for Georgia and Ukraine.

Ukraine, like Georgia, is a democracy in the shadow of increasingly authoritarian Russia, Yushchenko writes. The recent war raised particular worries for Ukraine, as Russia's navy conducted operations within Ukrainian territory. The best bulwark against a belligerent Moscow, he concludes, is "the path of Euro-Atlantic integration," as exemplified by NATO—"the path of democracy, freedom, and independence."

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko listen to the national anthem during a military parade to mark the 17th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence, in the capital in Kiev, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

The fact that Russia's navy uses Ukraine's Black Sea ports makes its Georgia operations all the more worrisome to President Viktor Yushchenko, he writes in the Guardian. (AP Photo)

"Ukraine has become a hostage in the war waged by Russia," President Viktor Yushchenko writes in the Guardian. (AP Photo)

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during their press conference in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, July 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Mykhailo Markiv)

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This conflict has proved once again that the best means of ensuring the national security of Ukraine and other countries is to participate in the collective security system of free democratic nations, exemplified today by NATO. - Viktor Yushchenko, president of Ukraine

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Facing Russia, Ex-Soviet States Need NATO