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Over the last 70 years, NATO has grown to encompass 30 countries. Members can ask other European countries to join.
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Potential members must adhere to democratic values and contribute to Euro-Atlantic security.
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Invitees receive a membership action plan that will guide them through the process of becoming a member. Accession talks will follow.
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In order for a country to join NATO , it must first sign an accession protocol to the treaty. All its members must sign unanimously.
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Is Ukraine on the verge of joining the alliance?
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At the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, the alliance supported Ukraine and Georgia's bids for membership. It agreed that "these countries will become members."
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NATO countries stated that they would engage "to address the questions still outstanding" on the applications. However, the countries were not handed membership action plans.
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"There's been no movement towards even that in the intervening nearly 14 years," Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation said of the action plans.
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Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's then-Moscow-friendly president, stated there was no need for the country to join NATO. Parliament voted in 2010 to give the country non-aligned status.
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Following Yanukovych's ouster and Putin's invasion of Crimea, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk stated that Ukraine 's attitude toward NATO membership has shifted.
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In 2017, the Ukrainian Parliament passed legislation reaffirming membership as the country's goal, with subsequent Constitutional modifications.
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In 2020, Ukraine was designated as an enhanced opportunity, allowing for increased information sharing and participation in NATO exercises.
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"Finland also has that status, and it's probably the most capable and significant non-member partner of the alliance," Charap said.
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Source: euronews.com
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