"Addressing the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels, Solana said NATO rejected Ukraine's application for a Membership Action Plan during its annual summit this week because the country is not sufficiently mature politically. "Ukraine does not have a political system which is at the level of the aspirations of some [of its] leaders to be part of international organizations," he said. "That has been the response that, in a way, has been given by NATO." Solana said the message sent to Ukraine at the April 2-4 summit in Bucharest was that its leaders must act in a "much more constructive manner within the country." " (bold is mine) (RFE/RL)

"The Party of Regions (Regions) should be riding high in Ukrainian polls as opposition parties traditionally have golden opportunities to increase their popularity. Instead, Regions and its leader and former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych have been declining in popularity and are in a crisis. On March 6 Regions lost 6 mayoral elections in eastern Ukraine to local independents and the Yuliya Tymoshenko bloc (BYuT)." (EDM article by Kuzio)

The article reminds me of a broadcast of the show "EpiCenter" where the commentator spoke about the results from local elections and how BYuT was winning in local elections. Though from the way that he reported it, he made it seem as a 'conspiracy' of some sorts. My mom's commentary was "what did they think ByuT was going to do? plant potatoes? they are a political party."

"NATO membership is a not a priority, though, for voters as a whole. Only 0.8 percent of voters in Donetsk (compared with a Ukraine-wide average of 4.4 percent) considered it important, and it was second to last in a list of thirty-four priorities. In Ukraine, as in most countries, foreign affairs is not a high priority for voters, who vote on “bread and butter” issues." (quote from EDM article)

Check out Taras of Ukrainiana's footage from the anti-Nato rally in Kyiv.  

Now is the true test of Ukraine's leadership and it's commitment to Euro-Atlantic intergration. The deadline has been set, the clock is ticking and there is only six months within which to indicate beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ukraine has been wrongly defined by its critics and detractors. It has been charged that the current politicians in power have been learning on the job. Well, now is the time to exhibit mastery or return back to the 'field'. Ready, set, go.

Yep, talking about Ukraine being granted Membership Action Plan. Bush criticized for being true to himself and pleading for eastern expansion. There were countries in support of Ukraine being granted MAP but imo little hope that France or Germany will reverse their positions, at this point.

Consoling myself by reading the following "Ukrainian Membership in Nato: Benefits, Costs, Misconceptions and Urban Legends" and dreaming of Berlin, next year. And a blast from the past, "Following the 2004 elections, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stated that “Our overriding goal – to assist Ukraine to realize its Euro-Atlantic aspirations and to promote stability in the region – remains unchanged”." Hmm, funny that he said something similar just a few days ago, and yet here it is four years later and no change in Nato.

"The Protocol of Mutual Understanding has been signed in the Verkhovna Rada. According to an UNIAN correspondent, Speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk claimed this, opening the plenary session. At the same time, he noted that the protocol joins into force only after the decree on NATO is adopted. Arseniy Yatseniuk also assessed positively the fact that Verkhovna Rada has resumed its work. “At last, it happened”, he said." (UNIAN) (RIA Novosti) (ukr UNIAN)

"Parliament resumed normal operation on Thursday after four major political groups signed an agreement ending their standoff seven days before President Viktor Yushchenko could obtain the power to dismiss the legislature." (full story Ukrainian Journal)

First order of business was the vote on Ukraine's entrance into NATO and the resolution was passed: 175 deputies from PoR, 34 votes BYuT, 19 fvotes NUNS and 20 votes from Lytvyn Bloc.  And then a break and the evening session will begin later. The morning session was blocked  by PoR. 

"The resolution says that a decision to this effect [seeking NATO membership] may be taken only on the basis of a nation-wide referendum results, about which the Parliament Speaker would inform the NATO Secretary General." (NRCU)

Headline of article reads, "Bohatyryovva Supports Yushchenko's Position in Regards to NATO". She stated in an interview with 1+1 (link includes video of interview in ukr) that "Entrance to NATO and referendum will take place at that time, when the country is ready. Based on the results of the referendum will appropriate decisions be made." "Вступ до НАТО і референдум буде проведено у той час, коли країна буде готова. За наслідками референдуму буде прийматися відповідне рішення".

"Discussion about entrance is currently not underway. The discussion is about joining the action plan, which could inculcate certain standards in Ukraine." "Мова про вступ зараз не йде. Мова йде про приєднання до плану дій, що могло б впровадити в Україні певні стандарти."

[In terms of the latter quoted statement she is absolutely correct regarding that the current discussion is only about Membership Action Plan. I am still reeeling from B's decision to accept the post on the NSDC and this completely floors me. I wonder what is Yanukovych's reaction to this interview and her statements. And I wonder how this may impact voters in the East and South. My only correction to the news article is that B is currently not a member of the Party of Regions - she had to quick the politcal party in order to accept her current position.]

And of noteworthy attention is "Ukraine considers significant acceleration of its dialogue with NATO as one of its foreign-policy priorities. The press service of the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced this to Ukrainian News. First Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Volodymyr Khandohyi met with NATO Deputy Secretary-General Irzha Shedeva on Tuesday." (Ukrainian News) Present at the meeting was also Turchynov. (iPlus)

Taras Kuzio has a blog at Ukrayinska Pravda and his latest is "Ukraine and NATO".

"The Party of Regions emotionally reacted to the joint letter asking for NATO to consider inviting Ukraine into a MAP. This is both surprising and not surprising. The Party of Regions has been caught out by its duplicity on foreign policy since it entered Kyiv politics in 2002. Yanukovych likes to argue that his Party of Regions adopts consistent policies. Well, we can check the veracity of this claim by watching their attitude to NATO. In the same year that Viktor Yanukovych first became prime minister (2002) Ukraine officially declared its intention to seek NATO membership. The Yanukovych government, in power until the end of 2004, and the Party of Regions never rejected the official goal if NATO membership. The Yanukovych government sent Ukrainian troops to Iraq in 2003. The US was grateful to the Ukrainian government for sending the largest military contingent from any non-NATO member country. Ukrainian troops were brought home by President Yushchenko in late 2005. It was also the first Yanukovych government that put Ukraine on the path to a NATO MAP. The Yanukovych government implemented the first two annual NATO-Ukraine Action Plans in 2003-2004."