NATO may have fueled Russia's opposition to the alliance's eastward expansion by moving too slowly to admit new members, giving the impression of a lingering Cold War mentality, President Vaclav Havel said.
"I fear that it was years of hesitation on the side of NATO that has provoked feelings in Russia" Havel was quoted as saying in Saturday's edition of Pravo newspaper."Restraint to admit countries such as Poland or the Czech Republic must have necessarily caused a feeling that NATO continues to consider itself an instrument of defense of Western Europe against possible threat from the East," he said.
The Czech Republic and other former Soviet bloc countries are eager to join NATO to end a security vacuum created by the dissolution of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact military alliance and as insurance against renewed Russian influence.
Russia strongly opposes NATO's eastward expansion through its Partnership for Peace, fearing isolation.