Yeah I meant EU/NATO Europe of course. Once Russia gets into the EU or NATO bloc it gets huge obviously. Because of article 5.
As for Ukraine I didn't forget Ukraine was still very much aligned with Russia in the early 2000s (and an oligarchy like Russia that attacked the EU with similar tactics like ransomware). They only started repenting in the 2010s.
I feel like this is a more complicated issue because of that. They could have joined when the Baltics did but they didn't want to, they were very firmly in the Pro Russia camp. Then they could have had a lot more protection.
As for Ukraine I didn't forget Ukraine was still very much aligned with Russia in the early 2000s (and an oligarchy like Russia that attacked the EU with similar tactics like ransomware). They only started repenting in the 2010s.
I feel like this is a more complicated issue because of that. They could have joined when the Baltics did but they didn't want to, they were very firmly in the Pro Russia camp. Then they could have had a lot more protection.