NATO’s Dangerous Signals
By denying Ukraine and Georgia a "Membership Action Plan" and allowing Greece to veto membership for Macedonia, NATO's Bucharest summit sent two dangerous signals. First, Russia has successfully re-asserted its "sphere of influence" in Europe, and, second, all NATO member states are free to blackmail their partners into supporting their own narrow goals.
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COPENHAGEN – Two dangerous signals were sent from NATO’s Bucharest summit. The first was that Russia has reestablished a “sphere of interest” in Europe, where countries are no longer allowed to pursue their own goals without Moscow accepting them. The other was that all NATO member states are free to blackmail their partners into supporting their own narrow goals.
The first signal was sent when Ukraine and Georgia were denied the “Membership Action Plan” (MAP) that they sought. Several European heavyweights, led by Germany and France, said no, despite strong support for the idea from the United States.
The second signal was sent when Greece successfully vetoed membership for Macedonia, a move that reflected the two countries’ unresolved conflict over Macedonia’s name (which Greece insists must be Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia – FYROM – one of the most disgraceful acronyms harassing international politics today).
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