NATO’s expansion will eventually destroy the alliance from within

The expansion of NATO creates potential threats for Russia and simultaneously weakens the organization from within. It gives the USA a good chance to deal with both Russian and European rivals especially under the conditions of the economic crisis.

Photo: NATO’s expansion will eventually destroy the alliance from within

NATO will mark its 60th anniversary in the beginning of April. It is not going to be a grand holiday for ‘Old Europe.’ All the recent steps, which the bloc made to expand its presence in the world, were made without any distinctive goals and needs. The alliance was obviously following a wish to have former socialist countries, as well as the republics of the former Soviet Union, under its political and economic influence.

They originally spoke about the correspondence of new NATO members to some sort of political, democratic and military objectives. Those words were quickly forgotten soon afterwards. NATO began to open its doors for everyone, even corrupt and backward countries. In April, NATO will welcome yet another member – Albania, the poorest country of the whole of Europe which has a very good geographical position.

NATO could stop its existence 20 years ago, after the break up of the Soviet Union – the mission was accomplished. However, the alliance continues to expand and is ready to make up new challenges to justify its activities. They will discuss a whole range of such problems during the upcoming summit in April – from the proliferation of nuclear weapons and radical fundamentalism to Russia’s unpredictable policies.

Russia ’s Constant Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said that the globalization of NATO heralds its own end as an organization. Rogozin believes that the expansion of NATO was suspended just because of the fact that the leaders of ‘Old Europe’ think that they would not be able to maintain other countries with the same budget.

Europe ’s leading countries realize that the current structure of the alliance needs to be preserved. They are not ready to fund poor and unpredictable Eastern allies. France’s decision to return to military structures of the alliance does not mean that the country took a bow in front of Washington. France stands strongly against any further eastward expansion of the alliance contrary to Russia’s interests.

NATO was founded on April 4, 1949. The organization originally united 12 countries of North America and Western Europe. NATO had had 16 members by the end of the 1980s. The unrestrained expansion of NATO to the east began in 1999. Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia have become NATO members since then. Albania and Croatia are the next in the line.

None of the above-mentioned countries can be regarded as a strong nation from the defense point of view. However, all of them are staunch allies of the United States. Washington uses those countries to deal with its rivals in Russia and Europe. The Americans should bear in mind the fact that a balloon may explode if one continues to inflate it non-stop.

Vladimir Anokhin