In Geneva in Switzerland The World Trade Organization (WTO) has officially approved Ukraine's membership in the group after 14 years of negotiations.

Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian President and director of WTO Pascal Lamy Tuesday have signed a protocol on Ukraine's accession to the group.

The signing in Geneva lasted several hours after the organization's general council approved the document. A statement also said capital of USA sees WTO membership as an incentive for further economic reforms.

By now until July 2008 the Ukraine's Parliament has to ratify the agreement and make Ukraine the 152nd member of the WTO.

The United States State Department welcomed the signing as "an important milestone" in Ukraine's ongoing economic transformation.

The opposition lawmakers even physically blocked the president from delivering a key presidential address to parliament.
Opposition MPs were disagreeing the Yushchenko administration's move asking NATO to accept Ukraine into the organization's Membership Action Plan.

The protest was carried out despite assurances from visiting U.S. lawmaker Robert Wexler, who told VOA Ukrainian service he expects U.S. officials at a NATO summit later this year to formally back Kyiv's move toward the pre-membership plan.

The opposition is requiring that authorities first hold a referendum on Ukraine's planned NATO membership before seeking to participate in the Membership Action Plan.