Non-NATO partnership with U.S. gains 24 MP votes

Ukraine’s parliament broadly defeated on Sept. 8 a
vote on a proposal to request that the U.S. Congress grant Ukraine the status
of a major partner outside of NATO. The resolution was only supported by 24
MPs, pravda.com.ua reports. The vote occurred in an extraordinary session
called on Sept. 7 by Speaker Dmytro Razumkov.

As we reported before, the
vote was strongly opposed by Deputy Prime Minister for European and
Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishina and Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana
Markarova. They emphasized that this status was for countries who would never
have the option of becoming a NATO member state. Markarova in particular stated
that the move “looks like political sabotage”.

James Hydzik: The vote
will come under the microscope of Ukraine’s political analysts in upcoming
days, and one aspect of the issue will be the timing of the vote in light of
the CNN exposé on the attempt by Ukrainian intelligence services to capture
Russian mercenaries involved in, among other things, the downing of Malaysia
Airlines MH-17. The Ukrainian government is vociferously denying the report.
Some analysts will no doubt point to the sudden timing of the vote and lack of
support as evidence that the government itself was attempting to create a
diversion, and at that, one serious enough to command the urgent attention of
Stefanishina and Markarova.

No matter who pushed for this vote, the tail has
wagged the dog to some degree, and this issue must command attention in at
least the near term while the storm over the intelligence operation blows
over.