ABSTRACT
In the West both EU and NATO enlargement have been presented as complementary processes, while in Russia these processes are being regarded as the opposite ones. Being compatible in the Cold War times because of Europe's dependence from the US in the field of security, they became contradictory after the collapse of Communism, which removed the very threat of global conflict. The end of bipolarity and the strategy of Russian leadership directed at building a functioning democracy and implementing a market economy removed the political and ideological division in Europe. Russia's relations with NATO have passed several stages after the demise of the USSR—from euphoria and great expectations in early 1990s to mutual dissatisfaction and mistrust in the late 1990s. NATO enlargement can be assessed as a final victory of traditional perceptions of, and approaches to, European security in spite of all official statements on indivisibility of European security after the end of the Cold War.
