reaffirm the need for stronger EU presence in the country and in the region as well. Changed Aspects of Military Defence after NATO Membership After the end of the Cold War, Western leaders seized a historic opportuni­ty to open the doors of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to the post communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. NATO continued its expansion eastward- in 1999 Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic joined the organisation. Another expansion came in 2004, with the acces­sion of seven Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Albania and Croatia joined on 1 April 2009, while Montenegro became member on 5 June 2017. The Republic of North Macedonia joined NATO in March 2020. In May 2022, Finland and Sweden declared their intent to join NATO, and jointly presented their official letters of application to former Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, following the Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Following the ratification of Finland’s Accession Protocol by all NATO allies, the country joined the Alliance on 4 April 2023. By early 2024, Sweden’s Accession Protocol had also been ratified by all allies according to their national procedures, after which the country became a full NATO member on 7 March 2024. 77 The NATO enlargement since the end of the Cold War prompted a de­bate on several significant issues. The NATO enlargement with the Eastern European countries generated a debate over whether it will contribute to worsening the relations between the West and Russia. Critics of NATO en­largement in the 1990s argued that admitting Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic would damage the West’s relations with Russia, empower nationalist elements within the Russian political scene, undermine the in­tegrity of the alliance, and ultimately prove irrelevant to democratization in Central and Eastern Europe(Asmus, 2008). Although it was largely debated whether it was the right move to take at the time, NATO took the lead in bringing Central and Eastern Europe into the the vision of a peaceful Europe expanding its foreign policy horizons(Ružin, 2010). The Alliance lost precious time in integrating the Western Balkan countries in its membership. The political crisis in the Republic of North Macedonia 77 More info on NATO enlargement process on the NATO web page- www.nato.int. 140 NATIONAL SECURITY CULTURES- A VIEW FROM THE BALKANS