Ukraine Not to Amend NATO Membership Goal Enshrined in Constitution

Ukraine needs guarantees now, while the goal to achieve EU and NATO membership enshrined in the Constitution is a prospective vision for the future, and these provisions will not be amended. Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk made a corresponding statement in an interview.

According to him, even with clear security guarantees, Ukraine will not need to amend the Basic Law.

“What for? If we receive guarantees, we will use these guarantees. And everything enshrined in the Constitution regarding NATO and the EU is our prospective vision for the future. We need guarantees now, not in the future. We once signed the Budapest Memorandum for the future, which did not stand the test… Amending the Constitution is not and will never be an end in itself. This is a tool kit. No one has ever done any good out of it. Well, some amendments may be made, then some others. They are effective only when they produce an impact. We can write anything in the Constitution 150 times, but if it has no effect, it is a declarative norm,” said the speaker of parliament.

The security of the state and the Ukrainian people is the main priority for Ukraine now, he stressed. The territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence are “red lines” that Kyiv will not cross. These are three things that cannot be in the subject of an agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine.

Bohdan Marusyak