Yuschenko: Ukraine will one day join NATO

KIEV, Ukraine, May 23 (UPI) -- The people of Ukraine will eventually realize it's necessary to join NATO even though polls show otherwise, President Viktor Yushchenko says.

Yushcenko, who has been pursuing membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since his 2005 inauguration, told the Inter television channel Friday that although polls show most Ukrainians do not favor it, they will one day see the need to do so, RIA Novosti reported.

"The Ukrainian people are as wise as other European peoples and we will achieve what others have achieved, which is a collective security system that is not aimed against anyone," Yuschenko said.

Led by Germany, European NATO members last year blocked a bid by the United States to let Ukraine and Georgia to take part in programs that would lead to membership. The former Soviet states, however, were told by NATO officials they would eventually be allowed to join, the Russian news agency said.