Finland and Sweden want to join NATO. The rapprochement of the two northern countries in the defense alliance can certainly be seen as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In general, the citizens of the two countries were quite satisfied with the military non-alignment until Putin started inflaming Ukraine and starting a war.
Basically, only Turkey stands in the way of accession: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Sweden and Finland of granting refuge to Kurdish extremists and blocks their commitment.
The Russian president reacted to the application for NATO membership by cutting off supplies of gas and electricity to Finland.
Sweden could now face something similar and so Sweden has declared the first of three levels of alert for parts of the country due to potential problems with Russian gas supplies. According to the energy authority on Tuesday, the level applies to parts of the country in western and southern Sweden in order to prepare for possible supply disruptions.
Neighboring Denmark issued a similar warning on Monday after the war in Ukraine. In Germany and Austria, too, the early warning level is currently in effect and is therefore the first escalation level of the gas emergency plan. The second step is the alarm level and the third step is the emergency level.