Protests will not affect Ukraine-NATO drills - official
12:1827/05/2010 KIEV, May 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Ukraine-NATO Sea Breeze military exercises will be held despite protest rallies held by Ukrainian communists, the president's chief of staff said on Thursday.
"The drills will be held, the communists will express their position, then we will move ahead," Serhiy Levochkin said.
He compared the controversy over the drills to domestic rows. "What happens in newly-married families? They may have arguments" Levochkin said.
In 2009, parliament defied then-President Viktor Yushchenko and refused to approve the U.S.-led multinational Sea Breeze military exercise. But this year, deputies voted in favor of the drills, which will see the participation of some 3,000 people from 18 countries.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has indicated that Ukraine will drop his predecessor's plans to attempt to seek NATO membership, a proposal that infuriated Russia, but also said that he would try to maintain good ties with both Moscow and the West.
Sea Breeze drills in 2008 saw protesters set up camps along the Black Sea coast, and reportedly attempt to prevent foreign warships participating in the exercises from leaving the port of Odessa.
The Sea Breeze exercises have been taking place annually since 1997.
Three years ago, the Sea Breeze 2006 exercise in the Crimea was disrupted by protests.
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