If Ukraine joins NATO, all decisions will be made in Brussels, Viktor Yanukovich, leader of the Party of Regions, has said in an interview with the Vesti-24 TV channel. He is taking part in the work of the EU-Ukraine interparliamentary cooperation committee under the European Parliament. Responding to the question about the actions of the Ukrainian leaders for preparing Ukraine for joining NATO, he stressed that “the authorities permit themselves to ignore the opinion of half of the country’s population.” According to his information, some two thirds of the Ukrainian population do not support the idea of joining NATO.

“The blockade of the Supreme Rada will not be stopped until the problem of the joining of NATO is discussed there in the open regime. One should know the NATO Charter. If Ukraine joins NATO, it will have to fulfil the resolutions, adopted in Brussels,” he said.

Yanukovich pointed to the need for taking into consideration the opinion of Russia, Ukraine’s strategic partner, when tackling the problem.

According to Yanukovich, the “orange coalition” is repeating the mistakes of 2005 and is putting in jeopardy Russian-Ukrainian relations, which were perceptibly improved in 2006-2007.

Aside from taking part in the meeting of the EU-Ukraine interparliamentary cooperation committee, Yanukovich will meet in Brussels Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy, and Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. A representative of the NATO press service did not confirm to Itar-Tass a report that Yanukovich would have a meeting with the NATO Secretary-General or his assistant.