According to local media, Sweden will apply to join the Atlantic Alliance; Finland is starting talks today with a view to doing so by June. Meanwhile, Moscow is allowing military vehicles to approach the border as a warning
In recent days, Russia has made no secret of its anger at the possibility of Sweden and Finland applying to join NATO. Today, as discussions begin in the two countries to formalize this move, Moscow has decided to send a less diplomatic signal than the words used by the foreign minister over the past few hours (your decision will not increase stability in Europe).
Russian military vehicles have been spotted in Vyyborg, a Russian town near the Finnish border. This is evidenced by video verified by Sky News showing the movement of military equipment, including coastal defense systems, along the border between the two countries.
The move comes as Finland has announced its intention to decide within the next few weeks whether to apply for NATO membership, and in Sweden local media are filtering news about the possibility of applying for Atlantic Alliance membership until June ( C ‘a before and after February 24, said Swedish Prime Minister Andersson, referring to the date of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine).
Today Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin met in Stockholm.
There are issues that need to be analyzed very carefully, Andersson said at a press conference, we need to weigh all the pros and cons. At the same time, I see no reason to postpone the decision. We will have elections in September and we need to be able to focus on that.
There are different perspectives on whether we join NATO or not, we need to analyze them carefully, Marin reiterated, but I think our decisionmaking process will be quick, within weeks.
Finland, together with Sweden, has been participating in Allied military exercises for years as an observer; NATO has signaled that the two countries will be welcomed with open arms.
As Paolo Valentino writes here, the war in Ukraine poses an existential question in no other nation as it does in Finland and marks a crucial turning point in their security doctrine.
Finland, a member of the European Union since 1995, shares a 1340kilometer land border with Russia. During the Cold War he was outside the bloc and had good neighborly relations with the USSR, but he had since transitioned from neutral to militarily nonally status. However, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the President of the Republic Sauli Niinisto (who is entrusted by the Finnish Constitution with the government to lead foreign policy) declared that the situation had changed radically: recent polls say that more than 60% of my Compatriots are in favor of joining NATO.
Article is updated…
April 13, 2022 (Change April 13, 2022 | 13:08)
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