Ukraine will join NATO ten years from now
Ukraine’s accession to NATO is not a matter of chance but of time, according to the German General Klaus Reinhardt, who recently visited Ukraine. “The question is not whether Ukraine will join the alliance, but when this will happen,” he emphasized in an interview with The Day. A former commander of NATO forces in Kosovo, General Reinhardt visited Kyiv as part of a dialog between Germany’s Science and Politics Foundation and Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Last Monday also marked the first day of a visit by a Germany military delegation headed by Bundeswehr General Inspector General Wolfgang Schneiderhan. At a subsequent meeting the German and Ukrainian colleagues discussed future directions in bilateral cooperation in peacekeeping missions and summed up the results of Science and Politics Fund seminars that addressed the question of the Armed Forces in a democratic society. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry press service, the tenth and last seminar was held this past May in Germany.
“Ten years from now no dialog between the armies of Ukraine and Germany will be needed,” General Reinhardt said emphatically about the future of military cooperation between Kyiv and Berlin. As he put it, ten years from now Ukraine will already be a NATO member, and so there will be no need for any additional measures to maintain contacts. When The Day asked what Ukraine can expect from the Istanbul NATO Summit, he said that one should not expect any major breakthroughs because the participants “will be more interested in involving NATO in stabilization efforts in Iraq,” adding that “this time Ukraine will not be the center of attention.” He emphasized, however, that this is not proof that the alliance is losing interest in Kyiv, because “the question of Ukraine’s membership will be on the agenda for the next two or three years.” He pointed out that Kyiv could use this time to fulfill its commitments to Brussels so as to boost its confidence ahead of the talks with NATO representatives. General Reinhardt emphasized that Ukraine should prepare for its accession both to NATO and the EU in a diligent and responsible manner. He admitted that although “this will not happen tomorrow, this will happen inevitably.”
When asked about the Russian factor in the further enlargement of NATO, the general said that “disagreements will obviously arise,” but they will not be of great consequence. By way of example, he mentioned the Baltic nations — Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia — that joined NATO over the Kremlin’s objections. Moreover, Klaus Reinhardt pointed to the fact that the tone of Moscow’s relationship with Brussels has changed significantly in recent years, and Russia no longer views the alliance as “a hostile threat.” At the same time, the German general declined to comment on President Putin’s alleged refusal to attend the NATO summit slated for June 28-29 in Istanbul, saying that the Russian leadership should first make an official statement to this effect.
Emphasizing Ukraine’s significant chances to join NATO, General Reinhardt noted that Germany is ready to continue supporting Kyiv in its aspirations and that the two countries will continue to maintain their military contacts: “We may not have the best solutions, but we can move toward them by continuing our dialog.” Klaus Reinhardt further noted that he had an occasion to work with the Ukrainian military in the Balkans, and he therefore doesn’t question the abilities of the Ukrainian army.
