DISINFO: NATO lies blatantly and expands to the East
SUMMARY
The West, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, gave guarantees that NATO would not expand to the east. It was blatantly lying, and today we see it clearly.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about NATO enlargement.
This claim has been debunked numerous times. NATO did not promise not to expand into eastern and central Europe back in 1990, which was confirmed by the former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Back in 2014, Gorbachev said “The topic of ‘NATO expansion was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility. Not a single eastern European country raised the issue, not even after the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist in 1991.”
These so-called verbal agreements are a fiction. NATO members never made any political or legally binding commitments not to extend the alliance beyond the borders of reunified Germany.
The claim alleging that NATO promised not to enlarge fundamentally misrepresents the nature of the alliance. NATO, as a defensive alliance, is not “expanding” in the imperialistic sense. Decisions regarding NATO membership are up to each individual applicant and the current 30 NATO allies. Every sovereign state can choose its path and bordering states – in this case Russia – have no right to intervene.
For more debunks of pro-Kremlin myths about Ukraine see here.
See related pro-Kremlin disinformation claims, alleing that At the time of Germany reunification US promised Gorbachev that NATO would not expand eastwards; NATO is luring Ukraine and the Scandinavian countries into the bloc; NATO has double standards when it comes to Russia.