War

During the cold war NATO was balanced by the Warsaw Pact. The original 12 NATO countries included Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, The United Kingdom and United State. During the cold war four other countries were added, Greece and Turkey in 1952, West Germany in 1955 and Spain in 1982. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 the Warsaw Pact countries split away from Russia. These included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland and Romania. This greatly concerned the new Russia as this was seen as a threat to their security. The new Russian leader Gorbachev was told by US Secretary of State James Baker in 1990 that NATO expansion was over. The specific wording is, there would be no extension of NATO’s jurisdiction for forces of NATO one inch to the east. In 1999 the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were added. In 2004 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia were added. In 2009 Albania and Croatia were added. Montenegro in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2020. Finally, Finland in 2023 and Sweden in 2024. On each of these occasions Russia once again voiced their concern about the threat to their safety. In 1997 Russian President Boris Yeltsin informed US President Bill Clinton that he viewed NATO expansion eastward as a mistake and that Russia would have to take steps to mitigate its negative consequences. Russia’s concerns became more pronounced over time, with significant objections raised in 2006 and 2008, particularly after Ukraine began actively pursuing NATO membership. In 2008 at the NATO Declaration of Bucharest Summit, Ukraine was welcomed into NATO. Once again Russia objected calling it a red line. Many believe that the road to war was set at that time.