Ex-NATO Secretary General: “Finland and Sweden can become members overnight” | News
According to Rasmussen, an attack on Ukraine would “provoke a discussion in Finland and Sweden about NATO membership”. The Finnish Foreign Minister said that there are no such plans at present.
In an interview with Yle that was published last Saturday, former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen discussed last week’s series of talks between Russian, European and American officials with a view to reducing tensions over Ukraine
“In practice, Russia demands a veto on NATO enlargement. NATO’s doors will remain open, and we do not want Vladimir Putin to act as a doorman, “he said.
Rasmussen said he did not believe Russia would attack Ukraine.
“I think a Russian attack would provoke a discussion in Finland and Sweden about future NATO membership … so the price would be extremely high for Putin to attack Ukraine,” the former Danish prime minister said.
According to Rasmussen, Finland and Sweden are NATO’s closest partners.
“If Finland and Sweden applied for membership, we could decide on it overnight. You can become a member the very next day because you meet all the necessary membership criteria,” said Rasmussen, who was NATO Secretary General from 2009 to 2014.
Haavisto: No plans to join NATO
Finland and neighboring Sweden are among half a dozen EU member states that are not members of NATO. On Friday, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) said that Finland has no plans to join the US-led alliance.
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“Finland is not in talks with NATO about joining, and Finland does not have such a project underway … Finland’s security policy remains unchanged,” Haavisto told reporters at a conference call after a meeting with EU foreign ministers.
Aaltola: Finland’s’ key role in Russia’s challenge
Mika Aaltola, Director of the Finnish Institute of Foreign Policy (FIIA), has described the current tensions between Russia and the West as “a very traditional geopolitical escalation … that has been burning for a long time”.
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Aaltola, who was interviewed in Yle TV1’s current affairs program Ykkösaamu on Saturday, noted that Russia’s goal has been to get assurances from the West that NATO will not expand to the east. “In this matter, the Western world gave no basis, and Russia did not get what they wanted,” said Aaltola.
At the meeting between NATO and Russia on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg strongly defended the sovereignty of small states and mentioned a New Year’s speech by the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö.
“Niinistö’s speech was startling for many. Finland said that Western unity and keeping the doors open for NATO is in its national interest. Finland has played a key role in stabilizing the West in the face of the Russian challenge,” Aaltola said. “Niinistö’s speech was clear and there has been an unusual interest in it abroad,” he added.
Niinistö pointed out in his speech that “room for maneuver and freedom of choice also include the possibility of military adaptation and applying for NATO membership, should we decide for ourselves.”
According to Aaltola, both Russia and NATO see that they have something to gain – or to lose – in relation to Finland.
Lavrov: “Artificial lure” into NATO
Aaltola said that Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has described the situation with the knowledge that Russia has a lot to lose in relation to Finland.
“It is good that Russia is aware of this,” Aaltola said.
At a press conference on Friday, Lavrov said that it is up to Finland and Sweden to decide whether they want to join NATO.
“Recently, the US and NATO leadership made quite interesting statements that the Scandinavian states that are not members of the alliance will be welcome. This is a kind of artificial allure, expansion of this structure, which lost the point of its existence after the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact, “he was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Tass.