DISINFO: The US government promised Mikhail Gorbachev that the Atlantic Alliance would not expand to the East
SUMMARY
In 1990 the US government promised the then president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, that the Atlantic Alliance would not expand to the East.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation that NATO had promised that the Alliance would not expand to the East. Back in 2014, Gorbachev rejected this claim stating that the topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all. NATO Allies take decisions by consensus and these are recorded. There is no record of any decision to refrain from accepting the Eastern European nations having been taken by NATO. Personal assurances from individual leaders cannot replace Alliance consensus and do not constitute a formal NATO agreement. In addition, NATO's "Open Door Policy" is based on Article 10 of the Alliance's founding document, the North Atlantic Treaty (1949). The Treaty states that NATO membership is open to any "European state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area." Moreover, at the time of the alleged promise, the Warsaw Pact still existed. Its members did not agree on its dissolution until 1991. The idea of their accession to NATO was not on the agenda in 1990. Read similar cases claiming that NATO forgot all the previously existing agreements and expanded despite promises made to Gorbachev.