MOSCOW. May 12 (Interfax-AVN) - The emergence of new NATO member states in Central and Eastern Europe deteriorates trust between the nations of the region, Andrey Nikolayev, chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, told Interfax-Military News Agency Monday.
"The emergence of new NATO member states in the Central and Eastern Europe is a both quantitative and qualitative enlargement of an organization intended for modern warfare. Approaching Russia, NATO borders will deteriorate trust between European states," he said.
The fact that these states have so promptly left the Warsaw Pact for the lobby of potential adversaries means that they do not have a policy of their own and need supremacy over themselves, Nikolayev said. Hence, should the differences with Russia become worse, they fill follow the NATO tune, he added.
"For example, a powerful radar looking over 400km into Russia, monitoring the airspace of a sovereign state, and collecting various information could hardly have been built in the interests of Estonia," he said.
According to Nikolayev, "an organization founded only to counter the USSR and the Warsaw Pact that have already passed away cannot be considered a friend."
"To crown it all, it is eastwards that this exclusively military organization capable of conducting intensive warfare prefers to expand. This arouses a concern of our community that still remembers quite a lot of wars many of which came to Russia from the highly-civilized West," he emphasized.
In this environment, according to Nikolayev, "what counts is not NATO leaders' declarations and intentions but the real balance of force which will arise as new members join the military block."
"Politics and warfare interact in such a manner that not only the political speech leads the military orchestra but the rifle hanging in the closet can also be starring in the play. NATO will have to look for a military job to justify its own existence," he said.
He emphasized that the Alliance would always be branded as Russia's adversary unless it transforms into a principally different body.