Quote:
Originally Posted by opendoor
There are pretty significant differences though. In 2004 the Baltic states:
-were 55th-65th in GDP per capita
-were in the 35th-50th range in corruption indexes
-had relatively stable democratic institutions without much internal strife
By comparison, Ukraine:
-is 131st in GDP per capita
-is 122nd in the corruption index (barely above Russia)
-has had multiple revolutions in the last 20 years and was engaged in a civil war with Russian-backed separatists for 8 years.
With Article 5 and its requirements, NATO members need to consider the stability of the countries they admit, particularly when they border Russia. So while a place like Bulgaria might also seem a bit suspect to admit, they're essentially surrounded by NATO members already so there's less chance of them dragging NATO into a war if things go awry.
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That is a separate question to what is being discussed.
NATO considering Ukraine and then turning them down because of the issues you mention is reasonable.
NATO just outright rejecting Ukraine because Russia will get mad just seems likely to lead to Russia repeating the same actions until they get the result they want.