The main theme of this year’s Kyiv Security Forum is the fight for NATO. Last year, the event was not organized because of the war.
KIEV Director of the Foreign Policy Institute currently visiting the capital of Ukraine Mika Aaltola is sure that the West cannot stop Ukraine’s progress to NATO membership forever.
– We have to understand that the undecidedness of Ukraine will create problems and responsibilities for us in the future, so it must be resolved.
Aaltola is visiting the Kyiv Security Forum with a few other institute researchers.
According to Upi’s director, Finland’s security and Ukraine’s security are intertwined, as Finland’s NATO membership took place in the wake of Russia’s large-scale attack.
However, Ukraine’s NATO membership remains a controversial issue in the West.
– Some say that Ukraine must be victorious in order for it to have an open path forward. Others are of the opinion that Ukraine has already shown its strength, and it should be allowed to move forward in relation to NATO and the EU.
Aaltola emphasizes that even big words do not matter as much as practical matters, i.e. in the case of Ukraine, arms deliveries.
– Let’s get weapons here, get deterrence in relation to Russia, get Ukraine economically and infrastructurally integrated with the West, Aaltola enumerates.
Ukraine defends NATO
Kyiv Security Forum has been organized since 2007. Last year the forum had to be canceled due to the war, but now the security situation was perceived as good enough.
The background of the event is the former prime minister of Ukraine Arseni Jatsenjukin a foundation that wanted to create a forum where Ukrainian and European politicians and researchers could discuss current security issues. The main theme of this year’s forum is the fight for NATO.
– As a country, we are aiming for NATO membership, but we are also fighting for the security of NATO itself – each of its member countries – described Jatsenjuk at the opening ceremony on Thursday.
This time, the Kyiv Security Forum is laying the groundwork for the NATO summit to be held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, on July 11 and 12. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has been invited to the meeting.
The purpose of the forum is to prepare recommendations for the summit regarding the situation in Ukraine and its NATO membership.
This year’s debates will feature current and former influencers from European countries, the United States and Australia.
– Organizing it shows that there is activity in the country, that we dare to move forward and get people here from all over the world, Mika Aaltola praises.