რუსეთის ქმედებები მოსაზღვრე სახელმწიფოების ნატო-ში ინტეგრაციის პერსპექტივების საპასუხოდ: ბალტიის ქვეყნებისა და საქართველო-უკრაინის ქეისები

This research examines the actions of the Russian Federation in response to the
prospects of integration of neighboring countries into NATO, and aims at presenting a possible
reason why the Kremlin has not used military force in response to Baltic States NATO
membership; or to prevent this process.
There is a lot of literature on Moscow's aggression against Georgia and Ukraine, but no
one has ever answered the question of why the integration of Baltic States into NATO
countered no aggressive actions from the Kremlin’s perspective. Moreover, none of the
researchers have ever compared these states in this regard.
For the purposes of the research, qualitative research methods have been used. The
hypothesis has been tested based on the theory of realism and the thesis of the Swedish
researcher Svante Cornell. He argued that the existence of autonomous formations in the
countries increases risk of third parties interference.
Conclusion states that the autonomous units in Georgia and Ukraine were used by the
Kremlin as tools to facilitate internal conflicts and to legitimize its aggressive
actions/involvement. As a rule, Russia appeals to nationalist narrative in the autonomous
regions, raising hostility between ethnic minorities and the rest of the population. In light of
absence of automous entities in the Baltic Region, the Kremlin considered it unprofitable to
mobilize ethnic Russian/Russian-speaking groups in the Baltic States.