Opinion | Editorials
Why the US is in a hurry to enlarge Nato
The Nato summit could have serious repercussions for relations between Europe and Russia.
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:05 April 3, 2008
The Nato summit could have serious repercussions for relations between Europe and Russia. US President George W. Bush believes membership can be offered to any European democracy, so offers to Ukraine and Georgia to join are perfectly correct.
Even Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer favours the two nations joining the organisation. Yet there are those who are against the idea.
For example, both France and Germany and several smaller west European allies have expressed doubts about the wisdom of bringing Ukraine and Georgia into Nato, fearing it would upset the present balance of power between Europe and Russia.
Even opinion polls held recently in Ukraine show that the public is not keen on upsetting their powerful neighbour, Russia, with whom the country does as much trade as with Nato countries.
And Russia has a couple of moves it can make to underline its dislike of the concept of the former Soviet satellite states joining Nato.
Namely, as major supplies of energy to the Ukraine and Georgia, Russia could always turn off its oil and gas supplies to them, as it has done before when former Soviet states started to "think for themselves". It comes as a rude awakening to the populace when, in midwinter, there is no oil or gas to heat the home.
Another move Russia can play is to point its missiles towards Ukraine, which is a particularly sensitive issue with Russia, and so has already been threatened.
However, a small consolation is that Russian politicians tend to be pragmatic and accept the status quo over time. Whether they will do so over Ukraine and Georgia, as they ultimately did with Estonia remains to be seen.
The only question left is, as France and Germany say, why the unseemly hurry by Bush for the Ukraine and Georgia to become part of Nato?
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