User blog comment:Eastward Expansion/The Russian Bear (Book Review Part 3)/@comment-890383-20100802010847

Plus I doubt Russia can form a "New Warsaw Pact" without military action. Though Belarus would definitely flock to their side, and the Baltics might out of intimidation, the rest won't. Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, the Caucasian countries and Moldova weren't happy with Communism and the Soviet Union's hegemony then, they wouldn't be in the near future. Ukraine does have a present ideological conflict between pro-Western Europeans and pro-Russians: if this scenario happened that would result in a civil war if anything.