Ukraine Rada Rejects NATO Support Plan

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has received a stinging setback from his parliament on aiding NATO.


The Verkhovna Rada, or parliament, Wednesday voted down a government proposal to allow NATO transport aircraft to fly across its territory and use its bases in support of military operations around the world.

The measure needed to be approved by a clear majority -- 226 members out of the 450 in the chamber. But it fell 19 votes short with only 207.


The defeat was a major blow for the strongly pro-Western Yushchenko whose goal is to fully integrate Ukraine into U.S.-led NATO and the 25-nation European Union as quickly as possible.

And it revived the political fortunes of the former communists and their pro-Russian allies whom he defeated in the 2004-2005 presidential elections that marked Ukraine's democratic "Orange Revolution."

Ironically, the proposal had originally been negotiated by Yushchenko's more pro-Russian predecessor, President Leonid Kuchma.

Yushchenko, despite his recent dramatic election victory, is increasingly isolated in his pro-NATO policies in Ukraine.

Recent opinion polls show opposition is still strong in Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union until the collapse of communism in 1991.

Source: UPI