Finland could announce its bid to join NATO’s military alliance, signaling a dramatic shift in its foreign policy and angering Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to CNBC.
Finland shares a land border with Russia and has pursued a cautious foreign policy between Moscow and the West for many decades. Finland adopted a policy of neutrality during the Cold War, which meant that it would avoid confrontation with Russia. And in the early stages of World War II, the Finns successfully repulsed a Soviet invasion, also known as the “Winter War”.
But its long-standing neutrality, advocated by many Finns, could end with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told CNBC that Finland’s accession to NATO would put an end to the idea of ​​”forced neutrality between East and West”.
“This highlights how Russia’s actions in Ukraine have forced neutral countries to fully commit to NATO in the context of ‘either you are fully with us or we will not protect you,'” he said.
Russia has repeatedly said it opposes any enlargement of NATO, which was one of the reasons given by the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, had strongly expressed his desire to join the alliance before the invasion, but has since acknowledged that this is unlikely.
Public opinion
So far, NATO countries (with 30 members in total) have backed Ukraine with military equipment, but have refused to send troops, as this would effectively put Russia and the West at war. One of NATO’s guiding principles is that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members.
“I will not give a timetable for when we will make our decisions, but I think it will happen soon enough,” Finnish Prime Minister Sana Marin said last week, adding that her country’s NATO membership would be decided “within weeks.” “.
Polls show that after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the majority of Finns are now in favor of joining NATO. Former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said on Thursday that Finland would “definitely” apply to join NATO in mid-May.
NATO will benefit from Finland’s geographical location and military capabilities. The alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has already said the country would be warmly welcomed.
Risk
At the same time, however, Helsinki is aware of the dangers of joining NATO.
In a report to the Finnish parliament in mid-April, the Foreign Ministry said: “If Finland applies to join NATO, it will have to be prepared for far-reaching influence and risks that are difficult to predict, such as an increase. of border tensions between Finland and Russia “.
Russia, for its part, has said it will “balance the situation” if Finland joins NATO.
Perhaps, more importantly, Finland’s bid to join NATO could also entice Sweden to do the same.
Speaking last month, along with her Finnish counterpart, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson said her country was doing the same analysis as Finland.
“Finland’s entry into NATO will make Sweden traditionally more reluctant to join at the same time. This would put an end to several centuries of neutrality for Sweden and add to NATO a large military power and arms producer,” Kirkegaard said.
Source: Capital
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