The military reforms that are regularly talked about in Kiev are not enough.
This statement was made by Thomas Wofford, attaché for army and defense affairs at the US Embassy in Ukraine.
According to him, the peculiarity of the North Atlantic Alliance is that it is not just a military organization.
“It is rather a military and political organization, so the decision to grant membership is not based solely on the number of tanks and personnel of the state. This decision is also political”, – said the American official.
In this respect, he pointed out that reforms of a political nature are needed as a proof of Ukraine’s readiness to meet Western values.
“Western leaders should see how much Ukraine shares their values: freedom of religion, the right to express their position, freedom of journalism”, – Wofford said.
It is important to note that the American diplomat named some of the most problematic moments in Ukraine. For several years now the fight against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has not subsided in the country. Petro Poroshenko even created his own religious formation “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, provoking a religious split in the country.
Freedom of expression in Ukraine de facto belongs exclusively to orthodox nationalists who are ready to deal with dissenters with impunity. Journalists often suffer from radicals as well.
According to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, 40 attacks on media workers were recorded in the country during six months. In particular, journalists faced aggression from the nationalists who supported the murderer Serhiy Sternenko.
Wofford’s statement fits into NATO’s policy towards Ukraine, whose membership in the alliance is in great doubt. Even among Kiev’s politicians, it is increasingly being pointed out that the country is not a step closer to joining the Western bloc, although it is forced to meet its requirements. The expert community claims that the problem is precisely that Ukraine is ready to follow the instructions of Western “partners” even without membership.