– NATO and Russia do not consider each other as opponents, it says in the pact that the two partners signed in 1997.
On Friday, it is exactly 25 years since the two great powers entered into cooperation, where it is clear that both countries together will overcome previous confrontations, as well as strengthen mutual trust and cooperation.
“This law reaffirms the will of NATO and Russia to give concrete substance to their common commitment to build a stable, peaceful and undivided Europe, completely and freely, for the benefit of all its peoples,” it said. in the peace agreement.
The agreement marked the end of a 40-year cold war, but now, 25 years later, the promises in the pact may have been forgotten overnight.
Different spheres of interest create problems
The two countries also set up a permanent council for talks, but the council will not have a meeting test for several years.
Janne Haaland Matlary, professor of internationalpolitics at the University of Oslo, says the council has never really played a major role in recent years.
– It has actually never played any particular role, because Russia has always wanted a hand on the wheel, which is natural when you sit in a council that is bilateral with two actors – Russia and NATO, she says to TV 2 on Friday morning.
The dilemma of how to divide Europe between them, with two different spheres of interest, creates difficulties, according to the professor.
– It has been problematic here from the beginning, and NATO has tried to normalize Russia into its understanding of the world, in our basic democratic concepts, but Russia has not been interested in it, Haaland Matlary explains.