Former NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen insists on Ukraine's immediate membership in the Alliance but that Article 5 of the Washington Treaty should not apply to territories occupied by Russia.
Rasmussen convinces of the advantages of Ukraine's partial membership in NATO
According to the former NATO chief, his plan for partial membership of Ukraine will not mean an automatic freezing of the conflict.
He believes such a decision will be a stop signal for the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and he will finally understand that he cannot prevent Ukraine from joining the Alliance.
Rasmussen also underlines the attention of NATO members that the issue of Ukraine's membership should never again be postponed for a long time, or even for 2024.
It is time to take the next step and invite Ukraine to join NATO. We need a new architecture of European security, in which Ukraine will be at the very heart of NATO, the politician said.
Why is it needed?
It's no secret that supporters of Ukraine's membership in NATO are deterred by the fact that the extension of Article 5 of the Alliance's collective self-defense agreement to the entire Ukrainian territory will oblige NATO member states to actively defend a country at war.
However, in Rasmussen's opinion, the exclusion of territories held by Russia from the treaty will reduce the likelihood of a war between the Alliance and the Russian Federation.
In addition, he reminds there is already a similar precedent in history.
According to him, it was about 1955, when West Germany joined the Alliance. What is important to understand is that then Article 5 applied only to its territory, but not to the territory of East Germany.
The Ukrainian army is now the most battle-hardened army in Europe and can become an asset and an example for other European states, Rasmussen concludes.
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