Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

EU and NATO as a method for stabilizing Central and Eastern Europe. NATO, a remnant of the Cold
War, has transformed itself to deal with new threats to European security, but Russia continues to view it
as a hostile force directed against Russia (“Where Does Europe End?” 178). In 2004, a massive increase in
NATO membership to include Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia greatly
upset Russia, particularly the admission of the three Baltic States which had been Soviet states, and not just
part of the former Soviet sphere of influence (Åslund 2).
In 2008, when Ukraine and Georgia requested NATO membership action plans (MAP), which
would have laid out a series of steps to be taken in order to become NATO members, Russia’s response
became even more volatile. A speech given by Putin suggested that he was questioning the legitimacy of the
breakup of the Soviet Union and the sovereignty of the resulting states. He said, “If the NATO issue is
added there, along with other problems, this may bring into question Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign
state.” While this response is quite reactionary, the motivation behind it and the perceived threat to
Russian security as NATO and the EU move closer to Russia’s borders need to be taken into account.
Russia also clearly questioned the sovereignty of Georgia, as it intervened and then recognized South
Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states (Åslund 7). At the NATO Summit in Bucharest, the allies
decided not to give Ukraine and Georgia a MAP, but indicated that they would contemplate the future
membership of the two states. This rather ambiguous message was given due to the disagreement between
NATO members as to whether or not Ukraine and Georgia should be given a MAP, supported by the
United States, but much more cautiously by many European NATO member states who were concerned
with Russia’s possible response and the ability of Georgia and Ukraine to meet the requirements for joining
NATO (Lazarevic 45-46). While some of Russia’s security concerns may be understandable, Russia’s
apparent disregard for the sovereignty of many former Soviet states is very concerning for European
security.
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