Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk forecasts Ukraine may be granted Enhanced Opportunity Partner (EOP) status as early as in October 2020.
"The main results of the Munich [Security Conference] are: there is no decrease in attention paid to Ukraine at the level of experts and the Ministry of Defense – there is a lot of attention, there is a lot of support. There is full support for our reforms, they know about our reforms," he said after a meeting of the parliament's committee for national security, defense, and intelligence behind closed doors on February 19, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
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He said he had met with over a dozen defense ministers from different countries. "In Brussels, the day before the Munich [event], we had a meeting with the [NATO] Secretary General and his deputy. The meeting was actually like the Ukraine-NATO Commission, but an informal one. And there were all the defense ministers of all NATO member states who arrived in Brussels," he said.
According to him, their advisers, consultants and observers are working in Ukraine, reporting on the progress of the reforms. "They are absolutely happy with the progress of the reforms, they see the pace we are moving at now, we may expect the promotion of our status with NATO to an Enhanced Opportunity Partner in October. If the pace of reforms is maintained," he added.
