Ukraine's hopes to join NATO soured by fierce opposition from Russia, internal problems

Quote: If it weren't for Ukraine's drive to join NATO, army conscripts here might still be peeling potatoes and wrapping their feet in cloth instead of socks, as their predecessors had done for centuries.
Ukrainian officials will showcase these and other reforms at the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, this week, in hopes the Western military alliance will risk angering Moscow and invite this former Soviet republic to start the process of membership.
Ukraine's bid to join NATO has strong backing from Washington and US President George W. Bush is expected to visit Kyiv on Monday and Tuesday in a show of support on the eve of the summit. Membership would help cement Ukraine's place in the European community.
But key Western European powers, including Germany and France, have spoken out against giving Ukraine a so-called Membership Action Plan just yet, fearing upsetting already strained ties with Russia, a major supplier of energy to Europe. The plan is a precursor to the granting of full membership, which usually takes several years to obtain.
Russia sees the alliance's eastward expansion as a direct threat to its status as a regional power. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that his country could aim its warheads at Ukraine if it joins NATO and deploys anti-missile defenses on its territory.
Ukrainian leaders have been invited to the April 2-4 summit to discuss cooperation. They hope to use the opportunity to boost their case for getting a road map to membership, but the prospects appear slim.
"If MAP is granted, especially if Putin comes there, it will be an outright scandal," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs.
Together with Ukraine, Georgia has also requested a MAP, hoping joining NATO would reduce Moscow's centuries-old influence over the country and put it on a solid Westward track.
But Georgia is riven by two separatist conflicts and Moscow has warned it could support the breakaway provinces' claims to independence if Georgia enters NATO. Despite Washington's support its chances are even smaller, experts say.
Ukraine's bid, meanwhile, is complicated by the country's internal divisions. More than half of the population, most in the Russian-speaking east and south, is deeply suspicious of the West and opposes membership, polls show.
The Ukrainian leaders' January request led to weeks of embarrassing protests in the parliament by opposition lawmakers friendly to Russia that involved fist-fights and locking the speaker in his office so that he couldn't start a session.
The country still has a lot of problems, ranging from rampant corruption to constant political turmoil, which has caused a stream of government shake-ups and early elections over the past years.

Full article: http://www.kyivpost.com/top/28727/

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