President Viktor Yushchenko has made accession to NATO a priority since coming to power on the back of the 2004 "orange revolution," but prime-ministerial nominee Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the country's main pro-Russia party, has opposed the move.
Our Ukraine's Roman Zvarych said politicians had coordinated with the president all controversial issues in the national unity agreement, including Ukraine's unity, land markets, the status of the Ukrainian language as the official language and the future of Ukraine's relations with NATO.
Ukraine's accession to NATO will be decided during a national referendum, which will be conducted when all preparation procedures are concluded, he said.
Yushchenko said in a televised speech early Thursday that parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Moroz, outgoing Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov, Yanukovych and Roman Bezsmertny, the head of the pro-presidential Our Ukraine faction in parliament, had already initialed the agreement.
The leaders of parliamentary factions are expected to hold an official signing ceremony of the document later today in the President's Secretariat.
