Polish Foreign Ministry slams German statements about "doors to NATO being ajar" for Ukraine
Piotr Wawrzyk, Poland’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, believes that if Germany had not blocked Ukraine's entry to NATO, the ongoing war would not have happened in the first place.
Source: European Pravda with reference to PAP (Polish Press Agency)
Details: German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius recently said that now is not the best time for NATO to decide on Ukraine's membership.
"The door is ajar, but now is not the time to decide on this issue," Pistorius said, adding that this option cannot be seriously discussed while Russia's war against Ukraine continues.
"You have to make decisions with a cool head and a warm heart, not the other way round," he said.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry has criticised this statement.
"The question is, when will the time come for this 'cool head'? Five, ten, or thirty years after the end of the war?" Wawrzyk wondered.
"If Germany had assessed [the situation] as it does now, if it had not tried to delay Ukraine's entry into the North Atlantic Alliance, if Ukraine had received an invitation to join the Alliance many years ago in Munich, there would be no war in Ukraine today", he said.
In his opinion, Western European countries continue to take their old approach.
"It is known that the countries of Western Europe, France and Germany, in general, have always been against Ukraine joining either the EU or NATO," Wawrzyk said.
Wawrzyk believes the German minister’s position could actually slow down Ukraine's accession to NATO, since unanimity is required when a new state is admitted to the Alliance. It is worth noting that Hungary is also threatening to block Ukraine's accession to NATO, as Budapest claims that Kyiv is oppressing Hungarians in Zakarpattia Oblast (Transcarpathia), which borders Hungary.
Wawrzyk emphasised that Warsaw supports Ukraine's membership of NATO and believes that the sooner it happens, the better.
Background: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Kyiv on Thursday and expressed support for Ukraine's accession to the Alliance.
He said that NATO member states were preparing to discuss Ukraine's membership and security guarantees at the July summit in Vilnius, but the main issue was to ensure that Ukraine wins the war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously stated that Ukraine would not accept any alternative proposals that could replace NATO membership.
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