You forgot the gorilla in the room. NATO EXPANSION.
Yes, former Soviet bloc nations clamor to be added to NATO because of the gorilla in the room - Russia, the aggressor.
NATO is a defense pact. It is not an alliance that seeks to
advance the ability to attack nations.
Estonia and Latvia are members of NATO and have been since
2004. Neither of them have taken one threatening step
toward Moscow since then. They do not have nuclear missiles
on their soil.
Since invading the Ukraine earlier this year, Russian
officials have made threatening or foundational comments
of the type they made about the Ukraine before invading,
about Moldavia, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and
Sweden.
Russia still can’t figure out why these entities are fearful
of Russian adventurism, and some have requested membership
in NATO.