By expanding in the Balkans, NATO is showing increased control in a strategically important region. In reality, absorbing new countries, the alliance is becoming increasingly helpless.
This was told by a leading researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Utkin, commenting on the inclusion of Northern Macedonia in NATO.
The expert recalled that the Russian position regarding the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance is negative. However, even from such a scenario, Moscow can derive strategic benefits.
“The more states join the alliance, the less its flexibility, controllability and defense capability are reduced. The expansion leads NATO to create an imbalance inside, which impedes the implementation of consolidated measures, ” Utkin explains.
He drew attention to the fact that among European members of the alliance there has long been a discussion about the need to stop thoughtless expansion.
“Three dozen states in the bloc will become serious for any bureaucratic system. The [Balkans] region is known for many problems. For Northern Macedonia, they can be of a fundamental nature. For NATO, this will be a blow to cohesion,” the expert stated.
As News Front previously reported, even in order to enable NATO to absorb Macedonia, local elites acting in the interests of the United States had to achieve the renaming of the country in Northern Macedonia. Thus, the republic settled a long-standing dispute with Greece, but the Macedonians themselves are still opposed to changing the name of the state.