Ukraine parliament approves EU-NATO constitutional amendments

Ukraine’s parliament voted on Nov. 22 to approve the first
reading of amendments to the constitution to include the requirement of full EU
and NATO membership as Ukraine’s strategic foreign policy course. Its members
offered 311 votes, more than the two-thirds constitutional majority required (300 votes). The
amendments apply to the constitution’s preamble, three articles and its
transitional provisions. The legislation was drafted and submitted by President
Petro Poroshenko.

Earlier that day, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
approved the president’s proposed amendments as being compatible with the
constitution. After the ruling, President Poroshenko urged parliament to review
and approve his bill as soon as possible, stressing that Ukraine’s
Euro-Atlantic integration is irreversible, the pravda.com.ua news site said.

Zenon Zawada: Ukraine’s
Euro-Atlantic integration might be irreversible, in the president’s words, but
clearly there is fear of a Russian-oriented parliamentary majority after next
year’s elections that is motivating these constitutional amendments. We expect
the next parliament will have a pro-Western majority, with a Russian-oriented
opposition.

But in Ukrainian politics, dramatic changes occur
within a matter of months, let alone years. So in this sense, these
constitutional amendments will serve to help preserve Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic
integration. We don’t expect Ukraine will join the EU or NATO in the next ten
years, but enormous integration can occur in that time.