So why did Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, etc, join NATO in the 1990s?

[watsup]

And Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldave, etc, more recently. Well, the Russian invasion of Ukraine shows EXACTLY why. It was not to be a threat to Russia, as the liar Putin and his apologists claim. Rather, the peoples of that area have a very long history with Russia and they know what its leaders are capable of, and they didn’t want to end up a vassal state of Russia yet again.
God Bless the Ukrainian people.

 

[joluoto]

Because they feared Russia might come back and occupy them again. It was always about them wanting security from Russian aggression.

 

[oneworld2]

And Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldave, etc, more recently. Well, the Russian invasion of Ukraine shows EXACTLY why. It was not to be a threat to Russia, as the liar Putin and his apologists claim. Rather, the peoples of that area have a very long history with Russia and they know what its leaders are capable of, and they didn’t want to end up a vassal state of Russia yet again.
God Bless the Ukrainian people.

Where's " Moldave" ??

 

[Juin]

And Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldave, etc, more recently. Well, the Russian invasion of Ukraine shows EXACTLY why. It was not to be a threat to Russia, as the liar Putin and his apologists claim. Rather, the peoples of that area have a very long history with Russia and they know what its leaders are capable of, and they didn’t want to end up a vassal state of Russia yet again.
God Bless the Ukrainian people.

That long history of Russia with its neighbours saw no Russian reverses? It was a string of uncontested Russian successes? Russia was the only villain?

Germany was also once a mega predator. Yet I see Dame Poland in bed with Herr Germany! May be it is less about ancient history.

 

[joluoto]

That long history of Russia with its neighbours saw no Russian reverses? It was a string of uncontested Russian successes? Russia was the only villain?

Germany was also once a mega predator. Yet I see Dame Poland in bed with Herr Germany! May be it is less about ancient history.

It was about them being part of the Soviet system against their will for 40+ years (longer for some), and a genuine fear Russia was not going to allow them to be independent forever. Heck, when Finland joined the EU in the 90s (and then Finland had not been under the Soviet system) security was one of the big themes, even though the EU has nothing to do with security. The idea was that joining the Western world was the only thing that guaranteed the Russians keep their hands off in the future.

 

[watsup]

That long history of Russia with its neighbours saw no Russian reverses? It was a string of uncontested Russian successes? Russia was the only villain?

Germany was also once a mega predator. Yet I see Dame Poland in bed with Herr Germany! May be it is less about ancient history.

Germany is no longer a threat to this countries. That’s why they joined an alliance with Germany, namely NATO. Please try to stay on topic, Ivan.

 

[Juin]

Germany is no longer a threat to this countries.

So that, more than ancient history, is the deciding factor.

That’s why they joined an alliance with Germany, namely NATO. Please try to stay on topic, Ivan.

Yawol Herr Kapitan

 

[watsup]

So that, more than ancient history, is the deciding factor.






Yawol Herr Kapitan

We can always count on you to immediately take the heat off of the murderous thug Putin. You do know that those rubles that he pays you are worthless, right?

 

[Juin]

We can always count on you to immediately take the heat off of the murderous thug Putin. You do know that those rubles that he pays you are worthless, right?

Yawol Herr Kapitan

 

[watsup]

Yawol Herr Kapitan

False, of course. But my comment is right on target, Ivan.

 

[Fledermaus]

Where's " Moldave" ??

You can't figure it out?

🤣

 

[Lutherf]

That long history of Russia with its neighbours saw no Russian reverses? It was a string of uncontested Russian successes? Russia was the only villain?

Germany was also once a mega predator. Yet I see Dame Poland in bed with Herr Germany! May be it is less about ancient history.

With all due respect, Hitler was a lot more dead when Poland began working with Germany than Putin is today.

 

[Juin]

With all due respect, Hitler was a lot more dead when Poland began working with Germany than Putin is today.

I am not sure where we are in disagreement. The fact remains that Germany's history as mega predator did not stop Poland from getting in bed with today's Germany. So history has little to do with it as OP argued.

 

[watsup]

Yawol Herr Kapitan

False, of course. But my comment is right on target, Ivan.

I am not sure where we are in disagreement. The fact remains that Germany's history as mega predator did not stop Poland from getting in bed with today's Germany. So history has little to do with it as OP argued.

Mega predator blah blah blah. Way to go off topic, which is the reason that Ukraine is fighting because they don’t want to become yet another vassal state of Russia. That’s also why the Eastern European nations rushed to get under the umbrella of NATO. They knew what Putin and Russia were capable of.

 

[NWRatCon]

I started a separate thread on this article, but it is germane to this discussion. Was it inevitable? A short history of Russia’s war on Ukraine (Guardian). Long, but well worth the read.