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NATO expansion: milestones and assumptions
The North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) on the way of its development has undergone several stages of expansion and a repeated change in the concept of activity. The problem of NATO expansion was sharply faced by Russia with the organization moving to the East, to the borders of the Russian Federation.
The historical preconditions for the creation of NATO
The need to create various kinds of unions appeared on the shards of the old world after the Second World War. Post-war reconstruction, rendering assistance to the affected countries, improving the welfare of the member states, developing cooperation, ensuring peace and security - all these were the main reasons for the activation of integration processes in Europe.
The contours of the United Nations were outlined in 1945, the Western European Union became the forerunner of the modern EU, the Council of Europe - the coeval of NATO - was formed in 1949. The ideas of uniting Europe were in the air since the 1920s, but before the end of the large-scale war, . And the first attempts at integration also did not succeed: the organizations created in the first post-war years were largely disunited and short-lived.
The starting point of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the North Atlantic Alliance) was founded in 1949. The main tasks of the military-political union were declaring the preservation of peace, rendering assistance to the affected states and developing cooperation. The hidden motives for creating NATO are a confrontation with the influence of the USSR in Europe.
The first members of the North Atlantic Alliance were 12 states. At present, NATO unites 28 countries. The military expenses of the organization constitute 70% of the global budget.
NATO's global program: theses about the aims of the military alliance
The main goal of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, enshrined in the document, is to preserve and maintain peace and security in Europe and other member countries (the United States and Canada). Initially, the bloc was formed to contain the influence of the USSR, by 2015 NATO had come to a modified concept - the main threat now is considered a possible attack by Russia.
The intermediate stage (the beginning of the XXI century) envisaged the introduction of crisis regulation, the expansion of the European Union. NATO's Global Program "Active Participation, Modern Defense" was then the main instrument of organization in the international arena. At present, security is maintained mainly through the deployment of military facilities on the territory of the participating countries and the presence of the NATO military contingent.
The main stages of the expansion of the military alliance
The expansion of NATO is briefly accommodated in several stages. The first three waves occurred before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1952, 1955 and 1982. The further expansion of NATO was characterized by rather aggressive actions against Russia and advancement to Eastern Europe. The largest expansion occurred in 2004, to date, eight countries are candidates for joining the North Atlantic Alliance. All this is the countries of Eastern Europe, the Balkan Peninsula and even Transcaucasia.
The reasons for the expansion of NATO are very clear. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization spreads its influence and strengthens its presence in Eastern Europe in order to suppress the alleged aggression of Russia.
The first wave of expansion: Greece and Turkey
The first expansion of NATO included Greece and Turkey in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The number of member countries of the military bloc increased for the first time in February 1952. Later Greece for some time (1974-1980) did not take part in NATO because of strained relations with Turkey.
West Germany, Spain and the failed member of the Union
The second and third expansion of NATO was marked by the annexation of the FRG (from the beginning of October 1990 - united Germany) exactly ten years after the legendary Victory Parade and Spain (in 1982). Later, Spain will withdraw from the military bodies of NATO, but will remain a member of the organization.
In 1954, the alliance proposed to join the North Atlantic Treaty and the Soviet Union, but the USSR expectedly refused.
Accession of the countries of the Visegrad Group
The first truly sensitive blow was the expansion of NATO to the East in 1999. Then the alliance was joined by three of the four states of the Visegrad Four, which in 1991 united several countries of Eastern Europe. The North Atlantic Treaty was joined by Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The most large-scale expansion: the way to the East
The fifth expansion of NATO included seven Eastern and Northern European states in the alliance: Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Slovenia. A little later , the US Secretary of Defense stated that Russia was "on the threshold of NATO." This once again provoked an increase in the presence of the alliance in Eastern European states and responded to the change in the concept of the organization of the North American Treaty in the direction of protection against the possible aggression of Russia.
Sixth stage of expansion: a clear threat
The most recent stage of the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance took place in 2009. Then Albania and Croatia joined the NATO, located on the Balkan Peninsula.
Criteria for NATO membership: list of commitments
It is not possible for any state that wants to become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance to join NATO. The organization puts forward a number of requirements for potential participants. Among such membership criteria are the fundamental requirements adopted in 1949:
Location of a potential NATO member in Europe;
The consent of all the alliance members to join the state.
последним пунктом уже имелись прецеденты. The last point already had precedents. Greece, for example, prevents Macedonia from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because the conflict over the name of Macedonia has not been resolved so far.
In 1999, the list of obligations of NATO members was supplemented by several more points. Now the potential member of the alliance is obliged:
Resolve international disputes exclusively by peaceful means;
Solution of ethnic, intra-state, territorial and political disputes in accordance with OSCE principles;
Respect human rights and the rule of law;
To organize control over the armed forces of the state;
If necessary, freely provide information on the economic state of the country;
Take part in NATO missions.
Partnership programs of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The military alliance has developed several cooperation programs that facilitate the accession to NATO of other states and provide a broad geography of influence. The main programs are:
"Partnership for Peace." At present, 22 states participate in the program, former participants are thirteen: 12 of them are already full members of the alliance, Russia, the remaining former partner of the partnership program, withdrew from PfP in 2008. The only EU member that does not participate in the PfP is Cyprus. The accession of the state to NATO is impeded by Turkey, referring to the unresolved conflict between the Turkish and Greek parts of Cyprus.
Individual partnership plan. At the moment eight countries are participating.
"Accelerated dialogue." It involves Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Georgia.
Membership Action Plan. It was developed for three states, two of which were previously participants in the program "Accelerated Dialogue": Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the program since 1999 Macedonia also participates.
The seventh wave of expansion: who will join NATO next?
Partnership programs suggest which states will become the next members of the alliance. However, one can not unequivocally talk about the terms of joining the ranks of participants in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. For example, Macedonia has been conducting an accelerated dialogue with NATO since 1999. Since the signing of the PfP program, ten years have passed since the signing of the PfP program for direct accession to the ranks of the member states for Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, only five for Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, and 15 for Albania.
Partnership for Peace: NATO and Russia
The expansion of NATO contributed to increasing tensions with regard to the further actions of the alliance. The Russian Federation participated in the Partnership for Peace program, but further conflicts concerning the expansion of NATO to the East, even if Russia is against, left no choice. The Russian Federation was forced to cease its participation in the program and begin to develop a response.
Since 1996, Russia's national interests have become more specific and clearly delineated, but the problem of NATO expansion to the East has become more acute. At the same time, Moscow launched the idea that the main guarantor of security in Europe should be not the military bloc, but the OSCE - the organization for security and cooperation in Europe. A new stage in the relationship between Moscow and NATO was legally enshrined in 2002, when the declaration "NATO-Russia Relations: A New Quality" was signed in Rome.
Despite the temporary easing of tension, Moscow's negative attitude towards the military alliance was only exacerbated. The instability of relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance continues to be demonstrated during the military operations of the organization in Libya (in 2011) and Syria.
Conflict issue
NATO's expansion to the East (briefly: the process has been going on since 1999, when Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary joined the alliance, and so far) is a serious reason for the exhaustion of the credit for trust in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The fact is that the problem of strengthening its presence at the borders of Russia is aggravated by the question of the existence of agreements on NATO's non-expansion to the East.
During the negotiations between the USSR and the US, an agreement was supposedly reached on NATO's non-expansion to the East. Opinions about this problem diverge. The president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, spoke about obtaining guarantees of NATO's non-expansion to the borders of modern Russia in oral form, but the alliance's representatives maintain that no promise was made.
In many respects, the disagreement in the issue of the promise of non-expansion was aroused by the misinterpretation of the speech of the Foreign Minister of the FRG in 1990. He called on the alliance to declare that there will be no progress towards the borders of the Soviet Union. But are such assurances a form of promise? This dispute is not resolved until now. But the confirmation of the promise of non-expansion of the alliance to the East could become a trump card in the hands of Russia on the international arena.
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