Ukraine will not join NATO without referendum – PM Tymoshenko

18:40 | 19/ 01/ 2008

KIEV, January 19 (RIA Novosti) – A decision on whether Ukraine should
join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will only be taken through
a referendum, the country’s prime minister said on Saturday.

On Friday members of the opposition blocked parliament’s work in
protest against the government’s efforts to gain membership in the
Western military alliance.

Yulia Tymoshenko was quoted by the government’s press service as saying
a decision on whether to join NATO "will be taken exclusively by the
Ukrainian people through a nationwide referendum."

The coalition agreement between her eponymous party and the Our
Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense Bloc stipulates that a referendum must be
held on the issue, Tymoshenko said.

On Friday Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko handed a request for Kiev
to join NATO’S Membership Action Plan to the alliance’s secretary
general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Another former Soviet state, Georgia, held a referendum on NATO
membership on January 5. An overwhelming 77% voted in favor of joining
the alliance.