As a result of his poor performance in the Ukraine war

Rasmussen: We previously overestimated the strength of the Russian army

Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

archival interview international press

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) between 2009 and 2014, whose time at the head of the alliance was affected by two wars waged by Russia in 2008 and 2014, spoke about NATO's activities, and said in an interview with "Foreign" magazine Police.” The alliance did not start campaigns for expansion, but rather the countries neighboring Russia wanted to join the alliance in order to be assured of its security.

Here is the interview:

■ When you were prime minister of Denmark, did you expect or wish that "NATO" would expand in this way to include Sweden and Finland?

■■ I wished, but I did not expect it, because I know how to think about these two countries.

Sweden, for example, has been free of alliances for 200 years, and Finland has been very cautious for obvious reasons, chief among them not being agitated by its neighbor Russia.

But it is clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin's attack on Ukraine changed the situation overnight.

■ There are reports that "NATO" will re-evaluate the strength of the Russian army in the light of this war.

What lessons will NATO planners learn from what they have seen from the Russian military?

■■ I think we made two mistakes.

We have overestimated the strength of the Russian army.

Despite huge investments in army equipment and the reopening of Soviet bases, we see that the Russian army is very weak.

Therefore, it is necessary to find out the reasons for this.

I think rampant corruption is one of those reasons.

Another mistake is that we underestimated Putin's level of ruthlessness and ambition.

■ Some experts believe that the reason for the Russian war on Ukraine is due to the expansion of the "NATO" alliance.

What's your opinion?

■■ I do not agree with this opinion, because "NATO" was not campaigning for expansion.

What happened is that some countries that were part of the former communist world submitted requests to join NATO to ensure their security.

It was accepted under an open door policy.

Accordingly, instead of accusing NATO of being the problem, I think the question should be posed as follows: Why do the countries neighboring Russia want to join NATO in order to ensure their security?

I think they realize the magnitude of the threats coming from Moscow.

■ Do you think that NATO made a mistake in not accepting Ukraine earlier?

■■ In retrospect, it can be said that we made a mistake many years ago.

The first mistake was in 2008 when we held the NATO summit in Bucharest, where we decided that both Ukraine and Georgia would become members of NATO.

But we could not agree on giving them what is called a Membership Action Plan.

The lack of agreement in NATO sent Putin the wrong message, and he attacked Georgia a few months later in August 2008. We made another mistake in 2014 after Russia illegally annexed Crimea into the Russian Federation.

That is why we made many mistakes, and we were naive for a long time.

■ Do you mean that you should have done more when you were Secretary-General of the Alliance?

■■ The position of Secretary-General of the "NATO" is a very difficult job, as it requires achieving the consensus of the countries participating in the alliance.

I am not broadcasting a secret if I say I wanted to work in a different way.

In 2008 I was Prime Minister of Denmark.

I was in favor of granting MAP to Georgia and Ukraine.

But we have not been able to achieve consensus within the "NATO" alliance.

In 2014, I was in favor of more robust action, but we couldn't achieve consensus.

And of course I have to accept that.

But we must learn the lessons of history. Inaction with Putin has not led to peace, but to war and conflict.

NATO was not campaigning for expansion.

What happened is that some countries that were part of the former communist world submitted requests to join NATO to ensure their security.

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