Ukraine has taken the first step toward moving to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). A vote was taken in Parliament on Tuesday to allow the nation to work toward that goal.

The Parliament in Ukraine is mostly pro-Western, which led to the almost unanimous vote of 303 to 8. The vote rejects an earlier decision made in 2010 that put Ukraine in a non-aligned status.

After the vote, Ukrainian President Poroshenko said: “European and Euro-Atlantic integration is a path for Ukraine that has no alternatives. Glory to Ukraine!” He wrote this on his Facebook page. He also wrote that a “mistake” had finally been corrected.

As might be expected, Russia immediately reacted to the decision. They pronounced harsh warnings and denunciations, saying that this decision will not result in anything good.

The decision to make Ukraine non-aligned was made by the previous President, Viktor F. Yanukovych, because of pressure from Russia. He was later ousted and fled to Russia.

After communism had collapsed, Ukraine had tried to join NATO, but there were too many problems. The nation’s military was rife with corruption and had become highly disorganized.

After Poroshenko took office, he promised to put Ukraine under the protection of the West. The official decision to move toward applying for NATO membership, made Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev boldly say that it will “turn Ukraine into a potential military opponent for Russia.”

Russia has hoped to bring Ukraine back under its control. This is partly what all the trouble is about in eastern Ukraine. Putin wanted the country to be able to strengthen Russia against NATO forces. He even admitted at one point that this was the reason he annexed Crimea earlier in the year.

In recent months, Russia openly admitted that it desires to keep Ukraine from joining NATO. The personal spokesman for Putin told the BBC that Russia wants a 100 percent guarantee that the country would not even think about joining NATO.
Bringing about peace in eastern Ukraine, Russia has said, requires that Ukraine be excluded from all military unions. This statement is reinforced by Putin’s anger over the decision to move toward NATO, which he considers to be Russia’s strongest military opponent.

About a week ago, the Secretary General of NATO – Jens Stoltenberg – told Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk that NATO is glad to strengthen its relationship with Ukraine. They are happy to see efforts made toward a peaceful solution in eastern Ukraine, and also that the country has decided upon a path of democracy. Because of it, NATO has chosen to set up five funds to enable Ukraine to build up its national security.

As Ukraine continues to show that it desires to work with and join NATO, other goals and promises have been made, too, that will strengthen Ukraine. NATO promises, through its allies, to provide better command, control, communications and computers to build its military, provide cyber defense, and help establish rehabilitation programs for injured personnel in the military, and more.

On the same day as the vote was taken in Ukraine to join NATO, NATO responded with its own online statement. It said: “Our door is open and Ukraine will become a member of NATO if it so requests and fulfills the standards and adheres to the necessary principles.”

It is important to note that this statement, which is a repeat of what had been said before, indicates that it may be a while before Ukraine could ever join NATO. Changes need to be made first, and that may never happen.