The Parliament will not change the Constitution regarding the intention to join NATO – Stefanchuk
The Speaker of the Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk does not see the need to amend the Constitution of Ukraine in terms of intentions to join NATO even if our country receives security guarantees from other countries.
The Head of the Parliament said this in an interview. Stefanchuk explained that NATO membership could be seen as a prospect for the future. At the same time, Ukraine could enjoy security guarantees from other countries now.
– If we receive guarantees, we will use these guarantees. And everything that is written in the Constitution on NATO, on the EU, is our perspective vision for the future. We need guarantees now, not in the future. We have already signed the Budapest Memorandum for the Future which has not been tested, – said Stefanchuk.
Asked whether this means that the Parliament will not amend the Constitution of Ukraine, the Parliament speaker answered in the affirmative.
– We will not. Changing the Constitution is not and never will be an end in itself. This is a toolkit. Nobody has ever done good from it, – Stefanchuk assured.
He added that the priority for the Ukrainian government is the security of Ukraine and its citizens. And that is why security guarantees are being developed.
– We must understand that behind every day of procrastination are human lives. We need to be flexible and look for options that will give us priority which for us is the security of the country and the security of every citizen… But this certainly should not be the Budapest Memorandum. This should be a clearly defined, legally motivated thing that will allow every Ukrainian to say: The war is over. Security guarantors stand, in which case they will make the first, second, third, fourth. Let’s rebuild the country, – the Speaker of Parliament explained the vision.
Stefanchuk accented that the red lines that the Ukrainian government will not cross are the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
As you know, in late March, the Ukrainian delegation during talks with the Russian side in Istanbul (Turkey) presented its official proposals for a new system of security guarantees for Ukraine.
We are talking about signing an international agreement on security guarantees for our state. Kyiv wants to see the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Turkey, Canada, Italy, Poland and other countries as guarantors.
On April 16, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, and Turkey had previously announced their readiness to become Ukraine’s security guarantors.
