Policy Voices | Bucharest Summit was not “NATO’s finest hour”, says former NATO chief

In today’s episode, host Catarina Vila Nova speaks with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former secretary-general of NATO. According to Scheffer, as long as Russia is engaging in war with Ukraine, Ukraine has no chance of joining the military alliance. This means no formal invitation to join in the upcoming NATO’s July Summit in Washington.

The former NATO chief spoke candidly about Ukraine’s slim chances of joining the military alliance that were first put on the table in 2008, during the Bucharest Summit, when Scheffer was then NATO’s chief. Looking back on that period, Scheffer admits that it wasn’t “NATO’s finest hour” because it made a promise to Ukraine that it knew it could not deliver.

Scheffer now warns the European Union to not follow the same path of NATO as talks to kickstart formal negotiations over Ukraine joining the EU are set to start as soon as next month.

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