Greece is the NATO member-state most likely to be kicked out of the Alliance because of its behaviour towards Macedonia and Turkey, shows a survey of the Atlantic Council and Foreign Policy magazine.
The two renowned institutions polled about 60 renowned heads of state, ministers of defense and foreign affairs, intelligence officers, and current and former members of Congress.
When asked which country they would kick out of NATO, Greece won comfortably with 18 votes, followed by Hungary (5), Turkey (4), Iceland (3), whereas 22 respondents said all member-states should remain in the Alliance.
Respondents said the reasons for Greece's NATO expelling were the its behavior towards Macedonia and Greece, as well as "its boundlessly selfish egotism and disruptive tactics".
On the other hand, when asked which country should join NATO, Macedonia was second with six votes, behind Sweden (13), but ahead of Australia, Georgia and the Ukraine with five each.
In the survey, (http://www.acus.org/event/atlantic-councilforeign-policy-survey-future-nato), respondents said the economic crisis is the biggest challenge for the transatlantic alliance, followed by nationalism and internal divisions. All respondents said NATO should continue to exist and the United States should remain in the Alliance. Only ten supported the idea of Russia joining NATO, whereas 19 left this option open for the future.
Interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo have been assessed as most successful, whereas the war in Afghanistan as the least successful undertaken by NATO.
When asked if NATO's European members could have conducted the operation in Libya without U.S. assistance, 48 respondents said "No".
Respondents included Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Lithuanian Defense Minister Rasa Jukneviciene, U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, former Congressmen Jim Kolbe, former Bulgarian Defense Minister Boyko Noev, Members of European Parliament Ioan Mircea Pascu and Ana Maria Gomes, analysts Daniel Serwer and Sally McNamara etc.
