President: The initiative to consolidate the Euro-Atlantic course in the Constitution is an intention to bid farewell to Moscow and a message to western partners that Ukraine will take advantage of the open door

President Petro Poroshenko during his speech at the 15th annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting stressed that the initiative to consolidate the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations in the Constitution was a signal to the public of the firmness of those plans, an intention to bid farewell to Moscow and a message to western partners that Ukraine will take advantage of the open door.

The Head of State noted that this year"s NATO-Ukraine Summit had confirmed the Euro-Atlantic perspective. "The initiative to consolidate NATO course in the Constitution is not only a signal to the public of the firmness of intentions, it"s not just an intention to bid farewell to Moscow once again ... This is a message to our western partners. Since you have told us repeatedly that the doors are open ... We will definitely go through them. And we will definitely return to the great family of European nations," he emphasized. The President separately noted that at the closed meeting of the summit, all the leaders of the Alliance firmly emphasized that the NATO door was open for Ukraine.

The Head of State stressed that not only Ukraine needs the European Union and NATO. "They need us as well. Not only will NATO give us effective safeguards for our security, with our new army, which most of you had an opportunity to see a few weeks ago at the military parade devoted to the 27th anniversary of our independence, we will significantly strengthen the eastern NATO flank. I want to emphasize separately, we are not going to the Alliance empty-handed ... We de facto offer one of the strongest armies on the continent to this defense block. And most importantly, we have a unique experience of how to defend ourselves, and, taking away diplomacy, how to beat the Russian aggressor," he said.

The Head of State stressed that Ukraine is a huge potential of human power and faith. "Ukraine is a Euro-optimistic country with a unique belief in Europe. As for the European Union, I would like to emphasize that this grandiose historical project can only be complete with Ukraine. Why? Because, my dear, not Ural, but our north-eastern border is the border of modern European civilization. Ukrainian border, not Ural," he said.

The President drew attention to recent events in Russia, when the police beat children across the country, the leader of the parliamentary faction beat the protesters threatening everyone at the rally to imprison them for three years and the head of the largest security agency threatened to make a "juicy steak" from one of the leaders of the opposition.

“Profound political and cultural differences are also the reason why we must definitively separate from the empire, get out of the sphere of Russian influence. In this historical process, we are lagging behind our neighbors. We have not yet fully and completely eliminated the post-colonial status in all spheres. Our ultimate victory in this struggle will be our accession to the European Union and NATO," the Head of State said. He added that he is not a romantic and clearly understands that it would be a big mistake to tell the date of its implementation and achievement.

"The war and the resistance of the old forces made timely adjustments to this strategy, but they have not influenced its content. Probably, authorities have made a lot of tactical mistakes in recent years. And for this, I bear part of personal responsibility. But I know for sure that we have not abandoned our strategy. The strategy is correct and has no alternatives. We need to do much more than we already did together," he said.