In recent news, NATO has reasserted its commitment to an open-door policy, assuring that it will continue to welcome countries’ aspirations to join the US-led military alliance. This announcement was made during a summit in Washington commemorating the 75th anniversary of the bloc.
NATO members emphasized the strategic importance of the Western Balkans and the Black Sea regions, pledging their support to help these countries counter malign influences from both state and non-state actors. The alliance expressed its support for the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of interested nations in this region.
In 2017, NATO admitted Montenegro as a member, while neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina has been engaging in intermittent negotiations on accession since 2008. However, Milorad Dodik, the leader of the Serb entity within the federation, recently confirmed his intentions to block any potential NATO membership for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the future.
NATO currently leads the peacekeeping force in Kosovo, which was deployed in 1999 after the alliance intervened on behalf of ethnically Albanian separatists, carrying out airstrikes on Serbia. Russia has expressed concerns over NATO’s expansion towards its borders, considering it a threat to national security and citing the alliance’s military cooperation with Ukraine as one of the root causes of the conflict with Kiev.
In December 2021, Russia proposed that NATO abandon its open-door approach to accepting new members and instead sign a comprehensive security treaty with Moscow. However, the bloc rejected this proposal, maintaining that its open-door principle is non-negotiable.