Azerbaijan, Baku, 4 April / Trend corr A. Gasimova/ Ukraine has the right to make its own selection as to whether to join NATO, Ukraine's President Victor Yushenko said at the NATO summit in Bucharest on 4 April. "We have the right to independently make our choice on NATO and our interests regarding NATO are not aimed against any country," he said.
On 3 April, the NATO Bucharest summit decided to postpone the joining of the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) by Georgia and Ukraine to December.
According to Yushenko, Ukraine is the only country which is not a NATO member although it participates in all programs of the organization. "We are steady about our goal and we are moving towards it," President said.
Presently, eight European countries, including Germany and France, oppose providing the status of candidate to NATO to Ukraine and Georgia. But, The NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in Bucharest that NATO is switching to intensive discussions with Ukraine and Georgia and the issue would be considered at the end of this year. .