Russia’s actions continue to push the bounds of geopolitical order. For the U.S., it has been an irritant but hasn’t caused outright conflict. For NATO allies, frequent incursions of Russian aircraft into their airspaces have led to confrontation, but Europeans are so far resisting the urge to escalate the tensions.

Those in Eastern Europe, however, after years of living under direct threat of Russia’s plans for territorial and political dominance, view President Vladimir Putin and his decisions through a different lense.

“No one Central European can speak for the whole region because there are differences among the Central European countries,” explains Slovak Ambassador to NATO Tomas Valasek. “It is true that where you stand depends on where you sit, if you know what I mean. The geography and history has a lot to do with it.”

“Broadly speaking, countries that share borders with Russia … are understandably the ones most focused on it for the simple reason that they have the most to lose from NATO getting the Russia policy wrong,” he adds.

Georgia, which lies south of Russia, is one such country. It was invaded by Russia in 2008 and Russian troops continue to occupy territory there. Georgia is not a member of NATO, so they are not protected by the organization’s policy of collective defense which dictates that an attack on one ally is an attack on all members.