Finland and Sweden want to join NATO - Russia warns of "consequences"

Created: 04/26/2022, 12:32 p.m

By: Andreas Schmid

Together in NATO?

The Prime Ministers of Sweden and Finland, Magdalena Andersson (left) and Sanna Marin.

© Paul Wennerholm/TT News Agency/AFP

The northern end of the EU is getting closer to NATO.

Finland and Sweden plan to join.

Secretary General Stoltenberg speaks today, Russia warns.

Stockholm/Helsinki - The border between Finland and Russia is more than 1300 kilometers long.

The Scandinavians are used to their strong neighbors from the east.

In the end there was hardly any quarreling, they left each other alone.

Also because Finland is not a member of NATO - which can certainly be understood as a guarantee of peace.

Well, around two months after the start of the Ukraine war, that could change.

Finland is working on joining NATO, as is Sweden.

The military alliance has been the subject of intense discussion in the northern European countries for weeks.

The Finnish newspaper Iltalehti and the Swedish newspaper Expressen are now unanimously reporting concrete plans.

Citing government circles, it is said that Finland and Sweden will soon submit a joint application for membership.

The application is to be submitted as early as the week of May 16th to 22nd.

Finland and Sweden: Scandinavians want to join NATO

Finland and Sweden are close partners but not members of NATO.

So far, Finland has justified its hesitation primarily with the border with Russia, Sweden with the alliance neutrality of their own country.

The war changed this attitude.

In March, the heads of government of the countries suddenly no longer ruled out joining NATO.

Intensive debates then followed in both countries.

Finland presented its own analysis, according to which Foreign Minister Ann Linde said Sweden was under "strong pressure" to reconsider its own strategy.

The ruling Social Democrats finally deviated from their NATO-critical course.

In addition, a majority of the Finnish and Swedish population is now in favor of joining NATO.

Finland, Sweden and NATO: "There is no other way"

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin visited her Swedish colleague Magdalena Andersson and signaled that the two neighboring countries would coordinate the issue.

"There is no other way to have security guarantees than within the framework of NATO's deterrence and common defense," Marin said.

She also referred to Article 5 of NATO, which guarantees the alliance military support in the event of an attack.

Finland needs this protection.

If the alliance case is declared, according to the treaty, NATO members must take measures “to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.” It is expressly mentioned “including the use of armed force.” NATO in turn invokes the law self defense.

It is enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

The parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America will be considered an attack against them all.

First sentence in NATO Article 5

Finland and Sweden joining NATO?

Stoltenberg open - Russia warns

NATO itself welcomes the application plans from Scandinavia.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has already announced that Finland and Sweden will join quickly.

On Tuesday (April 26) he will hold a press conference at an international meeting of defense ministers at the US base in Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The Norwegian is expected to also comment on NATO's Scandinavian expansion.

The NATO members and borders of the Soviet Union until 1991. Russia has repeatedly criticized the eastward expansion of the military alliance.

© dpa/Graphics: A. Brühl;

Editor: M. Lorenz

Russia, on the other hand, warned the northern EU members of the "consequences" of actually joining NATO.

What they look like is unclear.

In mid-April, Russia's former President Dmitry Medvedev spoke of stationing nuclear weapons near the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

They would then be “within reach of their own home” for Finland and Sweden.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Helsinki and Stockholm "need to understand the consequences of such a step for our bilateral relations and for the European security architecture as a whole".

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