Another serious blow to Russian President:
Putin has hoped to turn Ukraine into a neutral country such as Finland and Sweden - EU members that have so far refrained from joining NATO.
But the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the brutal war that has been going on in its territory for the past three months have led to a reversal and have accelerated the rapprochement between the two neutral Scandinavian countries and NATO.
Now, as a result of what is happening in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden are about to abandon their long-standing neutral position and officially join the alliance.
Finnish President Sauli Ninisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sana Marin announced together this morning (Thursday) - just days before the Finnish parliament will be required to decide on this important strategic issue, its support for Finland's accession to NATO "without delay".
'It is time for Parliament and society to formulate their position on joining the Alliance, we wanted to give the debate the space it needed.
Now that the decision is imminent, we are announcing our position to the attention of the parliamentary factions and parties: NATO membership will strengthen Finland's security.
As a member of NATO, Finland will strengthen the entire defense alliance.
Finland must apply to join NATO without delay.
The recommendation is in fact a directive for Parliament to act immediately and not to delay what seems inevitable today, after among the Finnish population support for joining NATO has jumped from about 20% to 76%.
Once Finland joins the Alliance, it will be the longest border between the two NATO member states bordering Russia - making Finland the main frontier country of NATO vis-à-vis Moscow.
Vladimir Putin // Photo: AP,
Bloody history
The border between the two countries is known for its bloody history: in 1939 the USSR invaded Finnish territory, after it refused to transfer territories to it.
A long war broke out between the two countries, which caused Finland to turn to Nazi Germany and become an ally of Berlin.
Although the Finns showed impressive fighting and sacrifice abilities, the surrender of Nazi Germany made Finland almost a Russian protectorate, which spawned Finnish neutrality.
Although this neutrality has been eroded consistently since the dissolution of the USSR, it now appears to be finally buried.
The coordinated Finno-Swedish accession move will strengthen the sense of the Western siege, which was in the first place the reason for the outbreak of the Ukraine war last February.
Although the accession process will take about a year and requires the approval of the parliaments of all NATO members, both NATO and Britain - which is a nuclear power - have already given security guarantees to the two northern countries, should they be attacked by Russia.
Putin, for his part, warned that the move by Poland and Sweden to join NATO would have "consequences," but given the Russian military's mediocre to weak performance in Ukraine, it is doubtful that Putin has conventional capabilities to carry out his threat.
At the same time, increased pressure from the West on Russia only reinforces the "Samson symptom" in the Kremlin and the "mental mortality with Philistines" approach.
The question now is: Will the West succeed in overthrowing Putin's rule, as the US administration wants, before the Russian top brass decide to take steps to expand the war front and escalate it dramatically.
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