Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that there will be “problems” with neighboring Finland after joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) earlier this year.
The Nordic country’s entry into the Organization marked a major change in the security scenario in northern Europe and added around 1,300 kilometers to the alliance’s border with Russia. It was also a blow to President Putin, who has long warned against NATO expansion.
“They (the West) took Finland and dragged it into NATO. Why did we have any dispute with Finland? All disputes, including those of a territorial nature in the middle of the 20th century, were all resolved a long time ago,” Putin said in an interview released this Sunday (17) by state broadcaster Russia 1.
“There were no problems, but now there will be, because now we will create the Leningrad military district there and we will definitely concentrate military units there,” he added.
border fight
Finland became NATO’s 31st member when it joined in April, doubling the security alliance’s direct border with Russia.
Even before Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine, he demanded that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization limit expansion. However, it was the war that “altered Finland’s security environment”, driving the Nordic nation’s desire to join the alliance, President Sauli Niinistö said in May last year when announcing that the country would seek to join the treaty.
A few months after showing interest, the Finnish government said it would spend about $143 million on building barriers along its eastern border with Russia, which used to have few security protections.
Finland closed its entire border again this week following allegations that hundreds of people were trying to cross without visas.
After another closure was announced last month, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo accused Russia of “allowing the instrumentalization of people and guiding them to the Finnish border in harsh winter conditions. Finland is determined to put an end to this phenomenon,” he said.
See also: Putin will be an independent candidate in the next elections
Source: CNN Brasil
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