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UKRAINE MAY JOIN NATO RESPONSE FORCE IN 2015-16
AZG DAILY
22-01-2010
International
Ukraine has been invited to join the NATO Response Force as a partner
country in 2015-16, a spokesman for the NATO military committee
said Wednesday.
Colonel Massimo Panizzi said Ukraine would become "the first non-NATO
country to join the Response Force."
The Response Force consists of rapid deployment forces with land, air
and sea components, capable of swiftly reacting to crisis situations.
Panizzi added that the matter would be discussed at a meeting of
Ukrainian and NATO chiefs of staff on January 26 in Brussels.
He described the move as "a significant step forward in the
implementation of military reform" that NATO is expecting from Kiev
"on its way" toward NATO candidate status.
Asked whether other NATO partners could join the Response Force,
Panizzi said: "All partners are invited to cooperate within the
framework of the process."
Ukraine was one of the first NATO partner countries to offer to play
a role in the NATO Response Force.
The country's pro-Western leadership has been pursuing NATO membership
since 2004, when President Viktor Yushchenko came to power.
Ukraine failed to secure membership in the NATO Membership Action Plan,
a key step toward joining the alliance, at a NATO summit in April 2008.
Russia vehemently opposes the post-Soviet country's NATO ambitions,
and in February 2008 the Kremlin threatened to retarget missiles at
Ukraine if it joined NATO.
The NATO Response Force is capable of performing missions worldwide
across the whole spectrum of operations, including evacuations,
disaster management, counterterrorism, and acting as 'an initial
entry force' for larger, follow-on forces.
Russia is creating a similar force with its partners in the Collective
Security Treaty Organization, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
and Tajikistan, RIA Novosti reports.
AZG DAILY
22-01-2010
International
Ukraine has been invited to join the NATO Response Force as a partner
country in 2015-16, a spokesman for the NATO military committee
said Wednesday.
Colonel Massimo Panizzi said Ukraine would become "the first non-NATO
country to join the Response Force."
The Response Force consists of rapid deployment forces with land, air
and sea components, capable of swiftly reacting to crisis situations.
Panizzi added that the matter would be discussed at a meeting of
Ukrainian and NATO chiefs of staff on January 26 in Brussels.
He described the move as "a significant step forward in the
implementation of military reform" that NATO is expecting from Kiev
"on its way" toward NATO candidate status.
Asked whether other NATO partners could join the Response Force,
Panizzi said: "All partners are invited to cooperate within the
framework of the process."
Ukraine was one of the first NATO partner countries to offer to play
a role in the NATO Response Force.
The country's pro-Western leadership has been pursuing NATO membership
since 2004, when President Viktor Yushchenko came to power.
Ukraine failed to secure membership in the NATO Membership Action Plan,
a key step toward joining the alliance, at a NATO summit in April 2008.
Russia vehemently opposes the post-Soviet country's NATO ambitions,
and in February 2008 the Kremlin threatened to retarget missiles at
Ukraine if it joined NATO.
The NATO Response Force is capable of performing missions worldwide
across the whole spectrum of operations, including evacuations,
disaster management, counterterrorism, and acting as 'an initial
entry force' for larger, follow-on forces.
Russia is creating a similar force with its partners in the Collective
Security Treaty Organization, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
and Tajikistan, RIA Novosti reports.