Manfred Weber, President of the European People's Party (EPP) and Leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, believes Ukraine’s accession to NATO is one of the conditions that ensure security architecture in Europe; however, he says it will only be possible after the war ends. 

Weber has stated that the decision made after the NATO Summit in Bucharest in 2008, where Ukraine was refused to receive NATO’s Membership Action Plan, was a mistake, and, in the end, this mistake will have to be corrected. 

"If we invite Finland and Sweden to NATO, then it is fundamentally clear to me that Ukraine has the exact same right! Finland has about 1,400 kilometres of border with Russia, so, I am sorry, but no one will be able to say now that Ukraine’s accession ‘will make Russia closer to NATO’. But it is obvious that Ukraine has to survive the war in order to join NATO," Weber said in an interview with European Pravda.

Weber has pointed out once again that it is clear "and our Ukrainian friends know it, that we need peace to expand NATO".

"States that are taking part in the war cannot join NATO. However, I do not see any long-term security architecture in Europe where Ukraine is not a NATO member," he added.

Weber has highlighted that one of the criteria for joining NATO is that this state has to strengthen the security of the Alliance, and Ukraine is doing it now. 

"Ukraine shows it literally every day by withholding a horrible Russian war machine. You have proven your security capacity," Weber said.

Moreover, Weber has added that Ukraine’s alignment with the Alliance values is more than obvious. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has reported that he invited President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to take part in the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July. 

The NATO Summit in Vilnius in July 2023 will be a crucial but probably not the last step of Ukraine’s accession to the Alliance.