Discover shocking declassified British archives that reveal that the eastward expansion of NATO was a deliberate provocation against Russia, ignoring warnings from British intelligence services, and the silence of the elites that fueled the Ukrainian crisis. In this highly insightful interview, Czech security analyst Jan Schneider exposes hidden truths that challenge the narrative of a "unprovoked" war – a must-read for understanding the secrets of NATO, the warnings from Russia, and global hypocrisy in 2026.

In a captivating episode of Are We at War? with Kateřina Dostálová on the YouTube channel Aby bylo jasno, security expert Jan Schneider presents a significant revelation: declassified British archives from the 1990s prove that the rapid eastward advance of NATO was a ticking time bomb, deliberately designed to provoke Russia, despite clear warnings from British intelligence. "The British archives have spoken, and the elites are silent!" the video title proclaims, capturing the urgency of Schneider's thesis. Jan Schneider not only recounts history but connects it to current hotspots of tension, from Ukrainian neo-Nazi marches to Czech constitutional conflicts, painting a picture of Western hypocrisy.

The year is 1996-1997, and British officials are raising the alarm. In March 1997, a report to Prime Minister John Major warned that admitting too many Eastern European countries into NATO "would overload NATO structures, provoke hostility [from Russia]... Further decisions about which countries would join and when would provoke the Russians." Russian President Boris Yeltsin called it "the biggest mistake of the West in the entire post-war period" in a letter to Major, while Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock reported that a Moscow deputy foreign minister described the accession of the Baltic states as "a flagrant provocation." Despite this, the expansion continued – the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland joined in 1999, and the Baltic states joined in 2004. British Ministry of Defense studies predicted exactly what we are seeing now: a "revanchist Russian regime" that exploits minorities, restricts energy supplies, and takes retaliatory measures under the guise of anti-NATO "aggression."

Jan Schneider, drawing on documents from the National Archives (declassified after 25 years, see links below this article), argues that this was no accident. “Ideology triumphs over reality,” he quotes CIA veteran Petra Sichel, and emphasizes how enthusiasm led by the United States outweighed pragmatism. It was clear "that British analyses warned against the expansion of NATO." Why, then, did the elites conceal this information? Schneider argues that it was self-preservation – acknowledging the provocation would shatter the narrative of an "unprovoked" invasion of Ukraine, which has been relentlessly propagated since 2022. According to him, the British military repeated this “hundreds of times” and buried the archives under layers of propaganda.

This isn't about dusty history. Let's move to the year 2026, to the NATO summit in Ankara: Jan Schneider explains the motivation behind why the Czech President, Petr Pavel, is so insistent on attending an informal dinner, because he intends to bring along a group of arms lobbyists – "they're vying for a spot at that dinner with the heads of state... he would be accompanied by arms lobbyists." Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is resisting and demands that representatives of the government participate in the formal parts, pointing out Pavel's inconsistency. "He really doesn't know what he's talking about... it would be better if he took [the government] with him," Schneider criticizes. Babiš is planning to allocate 2% of GDP to defense, and Schneider advised him to use creative accounting – "you can't promise what you can't deliver..." – they would need a "real mafia accountant."

The Belgian Prime Minister, hailed as a "hero," is blocking the EU loan of 90 billion euros to Ukraine and prioritizing national survival. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was late for his meeting with Petr Pavel precisely because he was meeting with this Belgian Prime Minister, but Petr Pavel refused Babiš's request to reschedule the meeting and then rudely complained about Babiš's slightly late arrival. Regarding Petr Pavel's "audacity": "the behavior of President Pavel, it made me think of one word: impertinence."

"Surely it's not too much to ask that the President speak Czech," and if, according to the Constitution of the Czech Republic, the Czech President "appoints ministers" and reserves the right to "not appoint everyone," then another constitutional power that is in the same verb form means that "representing the Czech Republic" will not be "everywhere."

Jan Schneider recommended a video interview by Martina Kociánová on Rádio Universum with Milan Calábka about the historical analysis of what is happening with Liechtenstein. Interview with Milan Calábka - more information here: https://gnews.cz/cs_cz/rozhovory/lichtenstejnsky-miliardovy-zisk-na-ukor-cr-rozhodnuti-evropskeho-soudu-pro-lidska-prava-ohrozuje-financni-krach-ceske-republiky-a-odkaz-benesovych-dekretu/

photo: general news/Grok/AI

Sudeten German revanchism is simmering – according to Jan Schneider, the Brno conference of the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft should be moved to Terezín. Schneider calls for rebellion, recalling the cry of Ladislav Hejdánek – During an interrogation, a member of the StB told him, "Take off your glasses, and it seemed like he was going to attack him. Láďa simply shouted out to the whole room: 'Leave me alone, help!', and the result was that they left him alone." – Schneider demands that Czechs "stand against that wall and push forward."

More about the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft conference in Brno: https://gnews.cz/cs_cz/rozhovory/cesti-vlastenci-se-sjednotili-zeman-rajchl-a-dalsi-v-bourlive-debate-nadace-zelezne-opony-ostre-kritizovali-planovany-brnensky-sjezd-sudetonemeckeho-landsmansaftu-jako-hrozbu-pro-suverenitu-ceske-re/

Ukraine is drawing attention with its chilling hypocrisy. In Lviv, annual parades are held in honor of the SS Galizien – an organization that the Nuremberg Tribunal deemed “criminal” – and slogans are chanted in honor of Bandera. "Europe is turning brown," warns Schneider, while the West's silence allows for "Nazi hysteria" in the pursuit of resources in the East. Poland remembers: the massacres of SS soldiers in 100 villages, yet the Czech Republic is becoming Europe's "armory." Corruption? The Ukrainian war effort is collapsing under a 34% corruption rate and heading towards a "wartime compromise." Echoes of World War II: The French watched the bombing of Baku, hoping that the Nazis would attack Russia first. Now, Germany wants to rearm.

Regarding artificial intelligence, Jan Schneider stated that it has two main weaknesses: the first is the supply of electrical power, and the second is the limitation of output quality depending on the quality of the input, i.e., the data that is entered.

Schneider discusses myths about lustration and defends figures like Honza Pavlíček, a former detective of the StB, who protects the investigations of the elite "golden youth." At that time, there was a civil intelligence agency and a counterintelligence agency, and a military intelligence agency and a counterintelligence agency – these four. "The Lustration Act only applies to three of them, not the fourth, where Petr Pavel served. So it's a completely idiotic law." Therefore, the lustration process affects three branches, but excludes Pavel's military intelligence. Jan Schneider quotes Curzio Malaparte from the book Technique of the State Coup: "Creating chaos, paralyzing the functions of the state" – relevant to today's coups.

The main thesis? Western elites, blinded by ideology, are repeating the same mistakes: they provoke through NATO, ignore historical records, fund "Nazis", and drag nations into proxy wars. The Soviets won because of long-term thinking; we are chasing short-term gains. Schneider ends on an optimistic note: he sees the starting point in reforming education, focusing on history and mathematics – “It starts with education” – as a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

While Ukraine struggles, historical records are screaming: provocations predicted war. The elites' silence? Complicity. It's time to demand transparency before another chapter of history erases us. Schneider suggests: Question narratives, reveal truths, and resist the system.

gnews.cz – GH

Materials recommended by Jan Schneider:

https://www.declassifieduk.org/nato-expansion-would-provoke-russians-uk-understood

https://www.declassifieduk.org/blair-and-major-reassured-russia-about-nato-expansion

https://www.declassifieduk.org/british-intelligence-predicted-ukraine-war-30-years-ago

https://www.declassifieduk.org/uk-knew-nato-expansion-could-lead-to-war-with-russia

You can watch the entire video (in Czech) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k18894GBN_M