Page 45 - bne_August 2023_20230802

bne August 2023 Eastern Europe I 45
Stoltenberg stressed that this promise of eventual membership was the strongest yet and that the two-step process to
join the alliance had been reduced to one step, although conditionality will remain. He also highlighted that a new Ukraine Nato Council will be created.
The one sop that Stoltenberg proposed was that Ukraine can bypass the usual Membership Action Plan (MAP), a process of monitored political, economic and military reforms that a country
has to go through before it can join
the alliance. The need for a MAP was waived for both Finland's and Sweden's accession to Nato, the newest members of the alliance.
However, Stoltenberg said that while Ukraine would not have a MAP, it will
go through a “one-step” process that
will still be subject to unspecified conditionality. In answering a question from a journalist who asked if this new process was just MAP by another name, Stoltenberg replied: “Ukraine has moved beyond the requirement for MAP as Ukraine has moved closer to Nato.”
The existing Ukraine Nato Commission will be upgraded to the Ukraine Nato Council, which allows Kyiv to call meetings under the new rules. The first meeting of this Council will be held on July 12 on the second day of the meeting.
However, the Council has no military power and is not a security agreement, so it will make little practical difference. Zelenskiy has been insisting on
actual interim security agreements to provide security for Ukraine until Nato membership is a done deal.
In addition, a permanent fund for the modernisation of the army for $500mn a year will be approved for Ukraine, Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg is due to have dinner with Zelenskiy the same evening at what is likely to be a tense meeting, ahead of a formal meeting on July 12 and a joint press conference.
The unspoken concern of many Nato members is that Ukraine still has not
Lithuanian president calls Belarus a “Russian province” at the Vilnius Nato summit
Ben Aris in Berlin
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda lashed out at Belarus, calling it a “Russian province” during the Nato summit held in Vilnius between July 11-12.
“I told President Biden that Belarus is indeed becoming a problem,” Nauseda said after a meeting with the US President Joe Biden in the Lithuanian capital. “This is not the Belarus that it was in 2020. Now we should have no illusions, this country is no longer independent, it is another province of the Russian Federation.”
All three Baltic states have been staunch supporters of Ukraine in its war against Russia, routinely condemning the Kremlin, but also remaining very hostile to Belarus, which they regard as a Russian proxy. The Baltics have cut commercial ties with Belarus that used to be a big customer at their ports.
While the main focus of the summit was the possible invitation for Ukraine to join Nato, which came to naught leaving Ukraine in limbo, Belarus was also in focus and condemned for its support of Russia’s war effort.
Nato leaders at the summit urged Belarus to end its cooperation with Russia's aggression against Ukraine and adhere to international law. The summit communiqué highlighted Russia's increasing military integration with Belarus, including the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons to the Republic and military facilities and personnel to the country.
Nato expressed its commitment to closely monitor developments, particularly regarding the potential deployment of the Wagner Private Military Company to Belarus.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko recently brokered a deal between the Kremlin and Wagner which staged an armed mutiny on June 24, briefly taking control of the Russian city of Rostov. As part of the deal Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was supposed to depart for Minsk, but Lukashenko revealed that Prigozhin was still in Russia and it was subsequently reported that he met with Putin together with his top commanders five days after the rebellion.
Nato leaders called on Belarus to cease its harmful activities against its neighbouring countries, respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, and abide by international law.
Belarusian opposition leader in exile Svetlana Tikhanovskaya also attended the Nato summit and met with US President Joe Biden, who pledged continuing support for the one time presidential candidate.
Tikhanovskaya called on Nato member states to consider including
a democratic Belarus in their envisioned security architecture. She emphasised the importance of discussing Belarus alongside Ukraine, stating that security for Ukraine cannot be achieved without freedom for Belarus.
www.bne.eu