The enlargement of NATO takes place not on the initiative of the NATO Headquarters, but at the request of the states that consider themselves vulnerable. Finland is a relevant example in this regard. After Sweden, Ukraine should also become a NATO member state, Victor Juc, director of the Institute of Legal, Political and Sociological Research of the Moldova State University, said in a public debate hosted by IPN. According to him, NATO managed to keep peace and security in Europe and this is its merit. The wars that broke out involved non-NATO member countries.

Victor Juc noted that NATO is a security organization formed in 1949 to discourage the Soviet expansion. In its activities, NATO also had less inspired actions that continue to influence people’s perception.

“There was an unhappy case in 1999, when NATO shelled Belgrade. This action left an imprint on the mentality of many Moldovan citizens. NATO’s expeditions turned out to be less effective as they abided by the U.S.’s principle to restore democracy in the state of the third world. It is highly improbable that a democratic regime could be established in Afghanistan, in Iraq or Libya as Islam itself is incompatible with democracy,” stated Victor Juc.

The expert said that NATO is enlarged due to the wish of vulnerable states to be under a security umbrella.

“The NATO enlargement comes not from the Headquarters, but from a lower level. The case of Finland is a relevant one. The Finns considered that they were in danger and really faced threats, not only risks and they should better form part of a collective defense alliance. Sweden will probably follow. I always considered that Ukraine should be the 33rd NATO member. The main result is that peace was kept in Europa and security was maintained, while the wars that occurred in Europe were outside the NATO space,” explained Victor Juc.

Referring to the low number of Moldovans who want the country to join NATO, the expert said the people should inform themselves better about the advantages of joining the North Atlantic Alliance. No NATO member was attacked and this is an indicator of the Alliance’s efficiency.

‘The citizens of the Republic of Moldova can inform themselves and see the Alliance’s functioning practices and values. No NATO member was attacked even if there are latent conflicts between the NATO member countries. If they hadn’t been accepted in 1952, Greece and Turkey would have definitely got into direct clashes. What happened on September 11, 2001 is something else as the U.S. was attacked not by another state, but by a non-state player. The terrorist organizations became a key danger to peace and security before February 24, 2022,” stated Victor Juc.

The public debate entitled “NATO: History without propaganda” was the 19th installment of IPN’s project “Impact of the Past on Confidence and Peace Building Processes” which is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.