Originally formed in April 1949, NATO had only 12 members. Four countries joined in due course totalling 16. Rome summit of 1991 was the bombshell when NATO welcomed more members. The floodgate opened; Russia was cornered; Putin was alarmed. The rest is history and now a bloody war in Ukraine. Here is the timeline:
Out of the founding members of NATO, only Canada and USA are from across Atlantic Ocean. Other ten members are European states namely Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Portugal. Accretion thereafter was slow, Turkey & Greece were admitted in 1952, West Germany in 1955 and Spain in 1982. Soviet Union was not happy at all, nevertheless it did not protest either. With the collapse of Soviet Union it was agreed to let East Germany join with her western part and the United Germany could be a member of NATO under the proviso that no missiles would be located in the eastern part previously held by the Russians.
Rome summit changed the status quo ante to the chagrin of Russian Federation. Neither Michael Gorbachev nor Boris Yeltsin would condescend to the declaration made during the summit that welcome erstwhile members of the Warsaw Pact. The first round saw Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland inside the net of NATO by 1999. Of course, there was a groundswell of opinion in these countries for American type of democracy. Added to that is America’s declared bait of Article 5 protection enshrined in NATO charter. Amidst strong Russian objection admission of these countries went through without any incident. However the Russian public was dismayed and dissatisfied as America’s James Baker has given categorical assurance that not an inch NATO expands eastward!
Second round of expansion was completed in 2004 when seven countries namely Bulgaria Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia were netted in. The fury of Russians was unbound. Putin said that the latest round of expansion does not mitigate threats from international terrorists. He also expressed concerns especially regarding the three Baltic countries where stationing of long range missiles would pose security issues for Russia. Apart from stating the misgivings Putin stopped short of condemning the NATO action.
Bucharest Summit by NATO and the conclusory declaration that welcomed the aspiration of both Georgia and Ukraine for full membership brought strong headwinds from Russia towards NATO and its chief architect USA. That was the last straw on the camel. Russia saw two of her immediate neighbours are manoeuvred by America to apply for membership and be accorded so in due course with a sole purpose of building an arch of encirclement.
A counter strategy was in the works and on August 2008, Russian forces entered Georgia and after a brief war Abkhazia and South Ossetia were liberated. The latter is in strategically important in South Caucasus region. Grabbing Abkhazia with an estimated 160 km sea-front plus four seaports in good working order: Gogra, Sokhumi, Gudauta and Ochamchire was a boon indeed!
February 24, 2022 recorded Russia crossing Ukrainian borders with a stated purpose of liberating Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the Eastern Ukraine that have declared independence in 2014 after the Maidan revolution. The Special Military Operation is going according to plan and NATO is reduced to fight a proxy war in Ukraine without air support.
Cheers!
Muthu
Ashraff Rajulu
Business Strategist
Mobile: + 94 777 265677
E-mail: cosmicgems@gmail.com
Blog: Business Strategist
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