Timeline:
- In 2004 pro-west candidate Yushchenko was poisoned with dioxin because he was running on an anticorruption, anticronyism platform that opposed Putin's candidate Yanukovych to keep Russia's influence intact in the region. A month after the election, "Yanukovych was declared the winner, though Yushchenko’s supporters charged election fraud and staged mass protests that came to be known as the Orange Revolution"*.
- In 2006 Yanukovych’s "party of regions" won parliamentary elections but soon later in 2007, Yanukovych lost his post to a serious well-liked business woman, Yulia Tymoshenko. By 2008 Tymoshenko ran directly against president President Yushchenko that climaxed into a constitutional crisis. In addition to Tymoshenko's over-reliance on Russia's influence in the region her platform didn't help her win the presidency.
- It was in this same time period in 2008 that both Ukraine and Georgia requested NATO membership. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel blocked both Ukraine's and Georgia's request. France was also with Germany and blocked Georgia's request. In response, Georgia became occupied by Russia by August.
- In 2014 Russia illegally annexed Crimea using "
little green men" to secure -the- voting process.
- In 2022 Russia invades Ukraine. [ No, it was not because Nazi's were building up an army or that NATO was considering Ukraine as a member. ]
Some might use the membership to trade baking secrets in addition to other activities. Mostly membership provides an military alliance to defend countries from aggression by historically recalcitrant nations such as Russia, North Korea, China, and Iran.
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* Reference: Britannica, Orange Revolution