[guntars]

It's not wrong, but it's not the whole story. Why would these typically small countries bordering Russia want to join a military alliance in the first place? It's because of the experience with their large autocratic and unstable neighbor and they are, of course, once again proven right.

[danbruc]

Can you point me in a more specific direction? Are you referring to events before, during or after the dissolution of the USSR? I already read the Wikipedia article on Estonia-Russia relations [1] but nothing really stood out between their separation from the USSR and 2004. Some back and forth over the treatment of the Russians remaining in Estonia. I will also check the other Baltic countries.

The other thing I would argue is that you can not use the current war in Ukraine as a reason why the Ukraine should become a NATO member if it is indeed true that Russia attacked primarily because Ukraine wanted to become a NATO member.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia%E2%80%93Russia_relatio...