Controversy rises with Rada vote on non-NATO status

The Verkhovna Rada is convening on Sept. 8 in an
extraordinary plenary session called by Speaker Dmytro Razumkov. MPs will
consider resolution #5380, in which the Rada will ask the U.S. Congress for
MNNA status, pravda.com.ua reports. This status is for major U.S. allies who
are not a part of NATO.

The reaction from outside of the Rada has been
emphatically negative. Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic
Integration Olga Stefanishina and Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova both
publicly explained that MNNA status is for countries who do not have the
prospect of becoming NATO members. This status, Markarova declared, “is not
about us.” Stefanishina claimed that the move, coming on the heels of the
meeting of Presidents Zelensky and Biden, “looks like political sabotage.”

James Hydzik: There is
the possibility that resolution #5380 will pass because of the rushed nature of
the move, and the sound bites of “major U.S. ally” and “not part of NATO” could
theoretically move enough deputies to vote for it without understanding what
they’re voting for. However, the alarm raised by Stefanishina and Markarova, if
accompanied by a campaign to reach out to deputies and tell them directly,
should prevent this.

Ukraine’s political season has often started with
an uproar, and this year is no exception. Those opposed to Ukraine’s NATO
aspirations had nothing to lose by pushing this resolution forward, and they
will continue, whether in hopes of a failure to take some specific effort
seriously, or as a matter of political shenanigans (or both), is hard to tell.
However, if some Ukrainian politicians and bureaucrats who deal with such
efforts are seen as thin-skinned and hypervigilant, incidents such as this
should be kept in mind as part of the reason for it.