Hungarian minister hails NATO decision not giving Ukraine an invitation, timetable
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As Ukraine has received neither an invitation nor a timetable to join NATO until it meets all necessary conditions, the alliance has successfully avoided the threat of an escalation in the war, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on the closing day of the NATO summit in Vilnius on Wednesday.
According to a ministry statement, Szijjártó hailed what he called a “win for responsibility”, adding that Ukraine would have to make do with “a modest result relative to certain expectations”. Szijjártó said the only progress made in the relations between Ukraine and NATO at the summit was the decision to elevate the NATO-Ukraine Commission to a NATO-Ukraine Council. “The sense of responsibility has won, and NATO has taken a responsible position,” the minister said.
NATO has managed to make a decision that does not come with the threat of an escalation of the war, he said. Member states have made it clear that Ukraine will only receive an invitation to join the alliance once it fulfils all the conditions and when the members unanimously agree that it has, he added. A country at war cannot become a member of NATO as the alliance’s enlargement has to bolster rather than hurt its security, Szijjártó said, arguing that Ukraine’s admission to NATO would risk dragging the alliance into an armed conflict.
“There’s no invitation, so there’s no timetable for Ukraine, and I think this was the only responsible decision NATO could have taken in the current situation,” he said. Szijjártó said Ukraine’s NATO accession bid enjoyed neither a “bypass” nor “fast track” since it had not received an invitation or a timetable to join the alliance. Ukraine must still prepare annual national plans which include political reforms such as changes to minority rights laws, he said, emphasising that NATO was a “values-based community as well as a defence alliance”. NATO foreign ministers will assess the national plans, he added, “and of course we will pay special attention to the respect of minority rights.”
Ukraine has met the only condition that counts, a condition that no other NATO country has met since the alliance was founded which is to actually having fought and beaten Russia on the battlefield. Is there a fighting force that has proven more capable or courageous? In contrast the Orban government reeks of cowardice and self-serving opportunism to make deals with the evil Putin regime which poses a continuous existential threat to the people of Europe. Orban is literally selling out our collective security to make deals with Russia. Ukraine has demonstrated the fiercest commitment to fight for freedom and democracy which are the values that underpin NATO. Orban has been pushing to give Putin the biggest bargaining chip in future negotiations for a ceasefire which is Ukraine’s continued exclusion from NATO. That is a recipe for Ukraine to endure another future war with Russia as Putin keeps coming back for more. Ukraine needs the iron-clad security guarantee of NATO membership to keep Russia out permanently and fully deserves it. Russia must be defeated and sent back to its’ stinking cave.