Finland is probably speeding up when it joins NATO - Russia has already threatened to use nuclear weapons
Created: 02/05/2022 13:31
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
The Ukraine war is also causing concern in other countries neighboring Russia, including Finland.
The country wants to join NATO soon.
MUNICH - Amidst all the debates on the Ukraine conflict, there is one point on which there is broad agreement: Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine is fundamentally changing the security landscape in Europe, while the effects of the invasion are being felt around the world .
Putin's troops are currently stepping up their attacks on eastern Ukraine.
This map shows where the Ukraine war is raging.
The change in the security landscape could soon be evident.
Although the attacks happened in Ukraine, it is no longer just about Ukraine.
Against the background of the Ukraine crisis, European countries are looking to the region with concern - some more than others.
While countries like Germany are primarily discussing energy supplies, other countries fear becoming a direct target of Russian attacks.
These include Finland and Sweden, at the latest after direct Russian threats.
Now Finland does not want to wait any longer and wants to create security.
The country apparently intends to apply for NATO membership very soon.
Ukraine war: Finland's NATO entry very close - concrete plan is apparently already set
A specific date for this has apparently already been set.
According to information from the Finnish newspaper
Iltalehti
, May 12 is scheduled for the application for membership of the alliance.
The newspaper relies on anonymous sources from the Finnish government, as reported by the Reuters news agency, among others.
Accordingly, the decision to join should be made in two steps.
First, Head of State Sauli Niinisto should approve the accession.
In a second step, parliamentary groups should finally approve the decision.
The information from the Finnish newspaper could not initially be verified independently.
According to the Finnish constitution, the president shapes the country's foreign and security policy aspects in coordination with the government.
Iltalehti
informed
that after the first statements by President Niinisto and the parliamentary groups, the decision would be confirmed in a meeting between key cabinet ministers and the President.
NATO expansion because of the Ukraine war?
- Sweden seems to be following Finland's example
Not only Finland, but also Sweden is considering joining NATO.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson received her Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin in Stockholm on April 13 and signaled her country's intention to join NATO.
"We must be prepared for all possible actions by Russia," she stressed at the joint press conference, citing that "everything changed" after the Russian attack on Ukraine.
By everything she probably meant her country's attitude towards NATO membership.
In November 2021, Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist stressed on Swedish television that his country would "never" become a member of NATO, Turkey's
Anadolu
News Agency reported.
He repeated this statement
on March 10, according to
Anadolu .
Although he doesn't want to use the term "never" this time, Hultqvist emphasized that his opinion is the same.
He justified this with Sweden's own security.
Apparently the Swedish government's opinion has changed in the meantime.
On April 25, Swedish daily
Expressen
, citing government sources, reported that Stockholm was planning to apply to join NATO, following the Helsinki model, and that it would do so on the same date.
According to the report, the application should be made during the week of May 16-22 during Niinisto's visit to Stockholm.
Finland and Sweden very likely to join NATO - Moscow threatens to use nuclear weapons
Moscow is by no means enthusiastic about the two countries joining NATO.
Just one day after the start of the Ukraine invasion on February 24, the first warning came in the direction of Helsinki and Stockholm.
"If Finland and Sweden join NATO, there will be both political and military consequences," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
The two countries should not ensure their own security at the expense of another country, the spokeswoman was quoted as saying by the Russian state agency
Tass
.
After the announcements made at the joint press conference by the Finnish and Swedish foreign ministers, Russia's threats picked up steam again.
According to Tass
, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko warned
: "Should Finland and Sweden join NATO, this will have highly undesirable consequences."
Former Russian Prime Minister and current Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmity Medvedev, also echoed the threats.
He even referred to nuclear measures.
He was quoted by the Russian agency Ria Novosti
as saying that if these countries were to join NATO, one could no longer speak of a “nuclear-free status” for the Baltic States
.
Should that happen, Russia will significantly strengthen naval and land forces in the area "to restore the balance," he announced.
Putin's Russia may already have started showing its teeth militarily.
In the past few days, a Russian plane has violated Swedish airspace.
Swedish fighter jets followed the machine and took photos.
In the midst of the discussions about Sweden's NATO membership and military threats from Russia, the incident must be classified as sensitive.
Russia against Finland and Sweden joining NATO - possible new front for Moscow
From its own point of view, Russia has several reasons for reacting so strongly to NATO accession by these countries.
In addition to what Russia called “denazification” of Ukraine, Russia's goal with the invasion of Ukraine was to prevent further NATO expansion.
An expansion of NATO towards Finland and Sweden would be less than ideal for this goal and, according to the British broadcaster BBC, would double the land border with NATO - another front for Russia.
Russia is likely to be particularly angry about the elimination of Finland and Sweden's neutrality.
In 1917 Finland declared its independence from Russia.
In 1939, the country was bombed by the Soviet Union during World War II and put up strong resistance.
After the war, a peace treaty on Finland's neutrality was signed, which has so far formed the basis of Finnish security policy.
Sweden has also followed a neutral policy for almost 200 years.
This neutrality was largely retained during the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War.
Now, however, the Ukraine invasion could herald a change.
However, Russia observed the situation in Finland and Sweden very closely even before the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
Even if both countries are neutral in military terms, they are members of the EU and cooperate closely as partners with NATO.
Also, according to the BBC, the Finnish Army is definitely a "military player" with around 280,000 soldiers, 900,000 reservists and modern equipment.
From Moscow's point of view, this means a new threat.
For Finland and Sweden, on the other hand, membership would mean significantly more security in the event of an actual Russian attack - thanks in particular to Article 5 of the NATO treaty.
(bb)
