26-27 May 2004

President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly visits Ukraine Background NATO-Ukraine partnership External link Website of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly On 26-27 May, Doug Bereuter paid an official visit to Ukraine as President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. During the visit he met with President Leonid Kuchma, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, MFA Konstantyn Hryschenko and with Senior Officials at the Verkhovna Rada including its Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn. While examining the importance of the Parliamentary dimension of the NATO-Ukraine Relationship during his meetings, Mr. Bereuter emphasized that the door to the West is open to Ukraine if it wants to meet the standards for NATO membership by implementing necessary political and economic reforms. He commended Ukraine for its substantial progress achieved in the area of defence reform. Mr. Bereuter reiterating the message on transparency of elections and democratisation by stressing that unfair and undemocratic elections would be a “huge setback” in Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration process.