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Ukraine - NATO: from words to business
The previous president Yushchenko liked to speak about NATO. Ukrainian's joining to NATO was his most cherished dream. Despite the opinion of the vast majority of Ukrainians, that was indicated by numerous surveys, he had persistently repeated that Ukraine seeks to enter NATO, that it has made its "Euro-Atlantic choice".
Nevertheless, the irony of the history is that never was Ukraine so far from the NATO as under Yushchenko. Kuchma managed to sing the Memorandum about the Collaboration between Ukraine and NATO, Yushchenko, however, lost the promised Membership Action Plan for Ukraine. Under the presidentship of Kuchma and premiership of Yanukovich Ukrainian military forces were brought to Iraq, under Yushchenko they were taken away from there.
Now having won the elections to a large extent thanks to the anti-NATO speeches, the new president of Ukraine Yanukovich without shelving and many words gets down to business. He made an agreement with NATO about the transit transportation through the territory of Ukraine of the ladings that are necessary to carry out the operation of " international forces security assistance if Afghanistan". Besides, the Minister of Defence Mikhail Ezhel informed the public about the "progressive increase of Ukrainian forces in Afghanistan". The matter now is of the inclusion into the Lithuanian group on reconstruction of the Gh?r province of four Ukrainian experts (to neutralize the self-made explosives) and preparation of three more military doctors for the hospital of the Polish group on reconstruction of the Gh?r province. But as we can suppose, it is only the first step.
