Johnson proposes alternative union with Ukraine, may include Baltic states – media

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to create a new alliance, an alternative to the EU, that could include the Baltic states as well, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera has reported citing its sources.

This alliance could include, in addition to the UK and Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and possibly later Turkey.

Johnson believes that the members of the alliance would be motivated by their distrust of Brussels and their frustration with Berlin’s reaction to Russian aggression, united by enthusiasm for national sovereignty, liberal market economy, and a completely unambiguous assessment of the military threat posed by Moscow.

According to Corriere della Sera’s sources, Johnson presented his pitch to Zelensky during their meeting in Kyiv on April 9. Kyiv has not expressed any position on the matter.

According to the newspaper, Zelensky is looking forward to the EU summit on June 23 where European leaders may decide whether to grant Ukraine candidate status and to open formal negotiations on the country’s membership of the EU. However, if Ukraine is presented with a more abstract formula for a “European perspective”, Zelensky may consider Johnson’s proposals more seriously, Corriere della Sera notes.

Whether Poland and the Baltic States would agree to such an alliance is also unclear. One European minister noted that Johnson was merely trying to win political dividends with such proposals.

No proposal yet

Lithuania has not yet received a concrete proposal regarding British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s idea for an alternative alliance, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Friday.

However, Lithuania’s top diplomat underlined the need to strengthen existing alliances.

“We have not seen any concrete proposal. We have no idea what its content is, how real and how serious it is,” Landsbergis told reporters after the Vilnius Russia Forum.

“But nevertheless, [it is necessary] to strengthen NATO, to resolve the dilemmas that we are facing, for example, the Turkish veto, not to close the door, not to deny Ukraine and the other countries the possibility to join NATO – this is the most serious security guarantee in the future – until Ukraine can join NATO, to help Ukraine to join NATO and then to have armed forces and a defence system that meets NATO standards,” he said.

Landsbergis said he believed these were realistic objectives.