Frank Gardner
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
So the idea that NATO is somehow gobbling up countries across Europe against their will and threatening Russia is a very tired and false narrative. NATO doesn't ask countries to join it. It's when countries feel threatened, they ask to join NATO.
So the idea that NATO is somehow gobbling up countries across Europe against their will and threatening Russia is a very tired and false narrative. NATO doesn't ask countries to join it. It's when countries feel threatened, they ask to join NATO.
So the idea that NATO is somehow gobbling up countries across Europe against their will and threatening Russia is a very tired and false narrative. NATO doesn't ask countries to join it. It's when countries feel threatened, they ask to join NATO.
So all those countries that used to belong to the Warsaw Pact, which was the Soviet-run defence organisation that comprised countries like Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary and so on, They've all joined NATO, including the Baltic states, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, because they feel threatened by Russia. Finland, which has jealously guarded its neutrality, as has Sweden, for decades.
So all those countries that used to belong to the Warsaw Pact, which was the Soviet-run defence organisation that comprised countries like Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary and so on, They've all joined NATO, including the Baltic states, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, because they feel threatened by Russia. Finland, which has jealously guarded its neutrality, as has Sweden, for decades.
So all those countries that used to belong to the Warsaw Pact, which was the Soviet-run defence organisation that comprised countries like Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary and so on, They've all joined NATO, including the Baltic states, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, because they feel threatened by Russia. Finland, which has jealously guarded its neutrality, as has Sweden, for decades.
And Finland, remember, has fought two wars with Russia during the Second World War, just before it, and has been neutral all this time and has got an 800-mile-plus border with Russia. And yet it felt so threatened by Russia that... after the full-scale invasion of 2022, that it has joined NATO.
And Finland, remember, has fought two wars with Russia during the Second World War, just before it, and has been neutral all this time and has got an 800-mile-plus border with Russia. And yet it felt so threatened by Russia that... after the full-scale invasion of 2022, that it has joined NATO.
And Finland, remember, has fought two wars with Russia during the Second World War, just before it, and has been neutral all this time and has got an 800-mile-plus border with Russia. And yet it felt so threatened by Russia that... after the full-scale invasion of 2022, that it has joined NATO.
So Moscow has brought this on itself, but none of these countries are threatening to attack, invade or in any way threaten Russia. It is, as Olga says, a false narrative.
So Moscow has brought this on itself, but none of these countries are threatening to attack, invade or in any way threaten Russia. It is, as Olga says, a false narrative.
So Moscow has brought this on itself, but none of these countries are threatening to attack, invade or in any way threaten Russia. It is, as Olga says, a false narrative.
Well, why don't you guys talk about Kirch, the Kirch Bridge.
Well, why don't you guys talk about Kirch, the Kirch Bridge.
Well, why don't you guys talk about Kirch, the Kirch Bridge.
So, on air defense, Ukraine has advanced a long way since the dark days of 2022, when literally policemen were firing Kalashnikovs at Shahid drones that Iran was shipping to Russia. But this is a numbers game. And... Ukraine is slowly running out of effective air defense.
So, on air defense, Ukraine has advanced a long way since the dark days of 2022, when literally policemen were firing Kalashnikovs at Shahid drones that Iran was shipping to Russia. But this is a numbers game. And... Ukraine is slowly running out of effective air defense.