Finland and Sweden are planning to join NATO as early as this summer in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
What Happened: According to unnamed U.S. officials speaking to the U.K. newspaper The Times, Finland’s application for NATO membership could occur in June, followed by Sweden. The inclusion of the two Scandinavian countries would expand NATO to 32 member states.
The U.S. officials cited in the Times’ report said Finnish and Swedish foreign ministers attended NATO sessions held last week. Both nations had maintained a political neutrality prior to the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, with the U.S. officials blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for scaring Finland and Sweden into NATO.
“How can this be anything but a massive strategic blunder for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin?” said a U.S. official to the Times.
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What Happens Next: Russia has repeatedly warned Finland against joining NATO. The two countries share an 810-mile border with Russia and twice went to war during the 20th century — first when the Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939 for a conflict that lasted through March 1940, and then when Finland teamed with Germany in a June 1941 invasion that dragged into a conflict resulting in a Soviet victory in September 1944.
DailyMail.com reported on an unconfirmed video that appeared to show two Russian coastal defense missile systems being moved along a road on the Russian side of the border. The road leads straight to Finland’s capital city of Helsinki and the missile systems are believed to be the K-300P Bastion-P mobile coastal defense system that can eliminate ships including aircraft carrier battle groups.
Photo: NATO / Flickr Creative Commons
