Viktoriia Lapa is a nonresident fellow at the Center for Defense Strategies, an independent Ukrainian analytical organization that focuses on defense and security. Lapa is a lecturer at Bocconi University in Milan and an assistant professor at the Alfred Nobel University in Dnipro. She is also a guest lecturer at the University of Bologna and an affiliated scholar at the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development in Bologna. Lapa received her Ph.D. in law from Bocconi University.
With the NATO summit in Vilnius in sight, Ukrainians are placing high hopes on the political decisions made and security guarantees granted.
In a comment on April 21, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “All NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a member.” During meetings with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell later in February, Stoltenberg reiterated that long-term arrangements would need to be implemented only once the war end