波羅的海三國於一九九一年八月獨立後，即透過「北大西洋合作理事會」與北約建立制度化關係。一九九七年七月八日，北約馬德里高峰會宣布邀請波蘭、匈牙利、捷克參與入會談判，故波羅的海三國加入北約的目標恐將於下個世紀方可實現。本文擬以波羅的海三國對俄羅斯之經濟與戰略利益為基礎，評析俄羅斯及北約主要國家對於此三國申請加入北約的態度，並歸結出此三國當無法加入北大西洋聯盟的主要因素。 The systematic relations between the Baltic States and NATO were founded through the “North Atlantic Cooperation Council” immediaily after their independence in August 1991. The NATO membership of the Baltics, however, cannot meet until the nest century because Poland, Hungary, and Czech have only recently been invited to join the entrance negotiations of NATO at the Madrid Summit in July 1997. The authors analyze the attitude of Russia and the major members of NATO toward the Baltic application for joining NATO based on Russian economic and strategic benefits from the Baltic States. They also attempt to find the major reasons for why the Baltic States have been unable to join the North Atlantic Alliance as of yet.
