I returned home from the NATO summit in Brussels late last night and am now up bright and early to cover the federal budget.
This NATO summit was remarkable, I thought, for the presence of Victor Yushchenko, the president of the Ukraine. Ukraine, of course, went through tumultuous times around Christmas. A presidential election was overturned amid allegations of vote-rigging and a subsequent election — during which as many as 700 Canadians participated as observers — resulted in Yushchecnko's victory.
Yushchenko is a reformer and, yesterday, at the NATO summit, he spoke about Ukraine no longer wanting to be the neighbour of Europe but rather Ukraine wanting to be fully integrated into Europe. To achieve that integration, Yushchenko spoke about becoming a NATO member.
Prime Minister Paul Martin had a private meeting with Yushchenko. During that meeting, Martin invited Yushchenko to Canada and Yushchenko accepted.