Why did countries of Central and Eastern Europe decide to join NATO?

Countries of Central and Eastern Europe decided to join NATO voluntarily for their own strategic reasons during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German reunification, these nations made sovereign choices about their security alignments. Their decisions were driven by their specific geopolitical interests rather than being forced into the alliance. This perspective highlights the agency of these countries in determining their own security arrangements in the post-Cold War era, contrasting with narratives that portray NATO expansion as primarily a Western-driven process.