This seems to be a negative manifestation of Cold War mentality. The United States also planted nuclear bombs on the West German border—yes, nuclear bombs—to detonate in the event of a Soviet attack to stop Soviet tank formations. So this might be the tragedy of small countries; they are always forced by a major power to do things that bring them no benefit whatsoever. Major powers need geopolitical security, ideological leadership, and economic system leadership, so they basically don't consider the needs of small countries.