Kollar in Prague: Giving Ukraine Hopes of Joining NATO Now Irresponsible

Prague, April 24 (TASR-correspondent) - It is inadmissible for a country in which there is a military conflict to join NATO. It is very irresponsible to give useless hopes to Ukraine, however, the process can be started, Parliamentary Chair Boris Kollar (We Are Family) said following the first block of the Conference of Speakers of the European Union Parliaments (EUSC) in Prague on Monday. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine previously said that they would like to receive an invitation at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July. "A country where there is currently a military conflict cannot join NATO, that is inadmissible. I think that it would not make it through the member countries' ratification. It's very irresponsible to give any hopes up here," stated Kollar. It's only possible to join NATO in peace, otherwise Article 5 would be activated and the member countries would have to engage in the war, said the Slovak parliamentary chair. Kollar stressed that this does not mean that he would be against Ukraine joining NATO. "We support it, but in peacetime... the process can be started, but you cannot be admitted as a member," stated Kollar. Concerning its accession in the EU, Kollar reiterated that Ukraine must undergo the whole process similarly as, for example, Slovakia did in the past. "I am very sorry that there is fighting in Ukraine, that the country has been invaded, but that does not mean that any shortcut will be made due to it. The same rules must apply to all member states," said Kollar. The EUSC conference is taking place in Prague on April 24 and 25. Switzerland, Norway, Britain and candidate countries are attending it as well. Russian aggression in Ukraine, energy security and EU enlargement are high on the conference's agenda. ko/mcs