Belgium, Slovenia and Spain are among seven NATO countries reluctant to grant Ukraine an invitation to join NATO, Politico reported on Oct. 23, citing four anonymous U.S. and NATO officials and diplomats.
While Germany and the U.S. are already known to have reservations about the move, the outlet reported that Belgium, Slovenia, and Spain are "hiding behind" those two countries, and slow-walking President Volodymyr Zelensky's ongoing request.
In mid-October, Zelensky unveiled his five-point victory plan, which includes Kyiv's invitation to join NATO placed at the top of the list. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said on Oct. 17 that the alliance does not currently have such plans.
"Countries like Belgium, Slovenia or Spain are hiding behind the U.S. and Germany. They are reluctant," one of the NATO officials told Politico.
The nations "support it in the abstract, but once it gets closer to materializing" they will start to oppose the idea more publicly, they added.
Two other countries — Hungary and Slovakia — are not backing Ukraine's NATO membership due to their pro-Kremlin leanings, Politico reported.
Zelensky said earlier this week that Germany has softened its stance on Ukraine's NATO membership, but remains "skeptical."
"But still, the U.S. will have an impact on this... We believe that they are consolidating their thoughts on NATO and this has an impact on, for example, Hungary and Slovakia," he said at a meeting with journalists, attended by the Kyiv Independent.
Kyiv submitted its application to join in September 2022, and in July 2024 the alliance affirmed Ukraine's "irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership" — though Ukraine has not received any definitive news about its future accession.
According to the information obtained by the Kyiv Independent, Kyiv had planned to ask for NATO membership within the months, not years.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
