MOSCOW, Dec 27 - RIA Novosti. The most significant expansion of NATO to the east occurred in 2002, during several waves of the alliance's infrastructure approaching the western borders of Russia, the bloc significantly increased its combat potential, said Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.
"In 2002, negotiations were launched on the accession of Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to the alliance, which also became NATO members in March 2004. This year was the stage of the greatest expansion of NATO. At the same time, the potential of the bloc on the eastern flank has grown significantly," Fomin said at a briefing for military attaches and representatives of embassies of foreign states accredited in Moscow.
According to him, the borders of the bloc have moved more than one thousand kilometers to the east, which provided him with the opportunity to use non-strategic weapons to defeat targets on the territory of Russia.
"For example, the minimum flight time from air bases in Estonia to St. Petersburg has been reduced to a few minutes. Most of the Kaliningrad Region was in the zone of destruction of artillery systems only… A significant number of infrastructure facilities on the territory of Eastern European countries have been transferred to NATO, which has expanded the possibilities for the deployment and transfer of troops," Fomin said.
He added that a large number of weapons, military equipment and human resources of the former Warsaw Pact countries were added to the arsenal of the bloc... NATO gained access to new ports of the Baltic and Black Seas, expanding the operational capabilities of the alliance's naval forces, Fomin noted.
Thus, the deputy minister stated, "due to the expansion to the east, the potential of NATO has grown, and the process was not "provoked" by the Russian Federation." Fomin stressed that "in 1997, Russia's relations with the West were, one might say, 'cloudless'.
"The Russian side confirmed at various levels its readiness to step up cooperation in all areas that at that time seemed to be the most important from the point of view of European security. No challenges requiring the expansion of the alliance were viewed. Although after the reunification of Germany in 1990, the entire united country, including the former GDR, became a member of the Alliance. Thus, in fact, the first step was taken to expand the block. In the future, new waves of NATO expansion followed," Fomin said.
He recalled that in 1997, after the NATO summit in Madrid, negotiations on the accession of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to the bloc started. On March 12, 1999, these countries became the first former Warsaw Pact members to join the Alliance.
