Deputy Shufrych of the Party of Regions speaking at the podium/rostrum called for Speaker of the House Yatsenyuk to recall his signature from the letter and to recall the letter completely which had been sent to to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Shufrych uttered a veiled threat in case the signature was not revoked "we give ourselves leave to take appropriate action in Parliament as well as outside its boundaries." Shufrych's argument is that by affixing his signature, Yatsenyuk went beyond his powers as Speaker in violation of the Constitution.

Deputy members of the Party of Regions and Communist Party of Ukraine have physically blockaded the rostrum, (pictures here, here, here, here, here, here, here) effectively halting the workings of Parliament while calling for Speaker of the House Yatsenyuk to recall his signature. The Speaker stated that his actions and deeds are in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine. Yatsenyuk stated that he would only recall his signature only in the event that Parliament would repeal all the normative acts which relate to Ukraine's position on NATO. Speaker of the House Yatsenyuk reminded party members that they themselves voted in support of this measure in 2003. The legislation which was a law relating to national defense was passed in line with Ukraine's membership in the Alliance, in addition to other acts of legislation. The session of Parliament was closed today and the next session will be Jan. 25th.

Kyrylenko head of NUNS states that the blockading of the rostrum was just a blind and really was related to the party's unwillingness to revoke deputy immunity from prosecution, deputy privileges, and examining new Mayoral elections for Kyiv and Kharkiv. (BTW the Kharkiv's Mayor Secretary (of youtube fame) does not believe that new elections are in the future.)

While in the meantime, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ohryzko is in Brussels for meetings and handed over a copy of the letter to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Eurasia Daily Monitor article regarding the NATO letter. "The imminence of NATO's summit clearly precipitated the Ukrainian leaders' letter, as the lead time to the summit is tightening and the allies' ability to work out a pre-summit consensus on this issue is becoming more problematic. ... The letter and accompanying statements are replete with indirect references to the deficit of Ukrainian public support for NATO membership. Such support remains confined to some 20% of the overall electorate (stronger in western and weaker in eastern regions), according to public opinion surveys in the last few years. The support has actually declined to that level in the Orange revolution's aftermath. This situation explains not only the declared intent to launch more serious public information programs, but especially the reassurances that any decision on membership would ultimately be submitted to a referendum. Unsurprisingly, the presidency also envisages an escape clause whereby that referendum would be consultative."