Why Sweden and Finland reconsider their year-long neutral position vis-à-vis NATO
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led the non-aligned countries Sweden and Finland to reconsider their membership of NATO. Recent surveys in both countries have shown that more people see an advantage in joining the alliance
The image is used for representational purposes only. AFP
Russia’s war in Ukraine, which began on day 47 on Monday, is changing the world’s geopolitical scenario. In a move that could further irritate Russia, Finland and Sweden could soon join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Both countries, which have maintained neutrality, are now considering joining NATO, and according to a report published in Timesit can happen already this summer.
NATO officials have reportedly told CNN The discussions that Sweden and Finland are joining the bloc have become extremely serious since Russia’s invasion, and US officials at the Foreign Ministry said that the issue came up at this week’s NATO Foreign Minister, in which the foreign ministers from Stockholm and Helsinki participated.
Here is a simple guide to what Finland and Sweden were up to now, what happens if they join NATO and how Russia has reacted to the development.
The neutrality of Finland and Sweden
In the case of Finland, the Nordic nation of 5.5 million people, which shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, it has been militarily non-aligned.
In fact, of the 27 EU countries, one in only six is not part of NATO.
Finland’s neutrality dates back to the end of World War II. In 1948, a treaty was signed with Moscow, promising to join neither NATO nor the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact.
In the 1970s, they began to strengthen their alliances with the Western world and also joined the EU in 1995. But support for NATO has always been low and until very recently it was below 30 percent.
This “forced neutrality” has been called Finnishization and has become a general term used for a process in which a powerful country causes a smaller neighboring country to refrain from opposing the former’s foreign policy rules, while allowing it to maintain its nominal independence and their own political system.
But ever since Russia launched what it describes as a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, opinions in Finland have begun to change.
According to Time The newspaper shows surveys conducted by newspapers just days after the outbreak of war support for joining the historic 53 percent in Finland.
Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb was recently quoted as saying that Russia “is pushing Finland closer to NATO membership” and that “at this rate we have no choice but to join”.
News agency AFP reported that a national security review commissioned by the government will be delivered to parliament next week to help Finnish parliamentarians make a decision, before it goes to the vote.
This is what Mika Aaltola, head of the Finnish International Institute, said Time the newspaper, “Russia does not see things one country at a time. They use Ukraine to show their power, perhaps trying to” shock and reverence “a little regionally, so that everyone in the region understands that if Russian security is not secure, no one’s security is guaranteed . “
Read also: Ukraine crisis: What could happen if the war spreads to a NATO country
Sweden has long maintained a neutral stance in world politics.
Russia’s several acts of hostility from 2014 onwards have, however, driven Sweden to invest resources in its own military.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine also prompted Sweden to send military aid, including anti-tank weapons, helmets and armor, to war-torn Kyiv. This is the first time that Stockholm has offered military aid since 1939, when Finland was helped against the Soviet Union.
A survey at the end of February on behalf of SVT showed that 41 percent of Swedes support NATO membership and 35 percent oppose it, which is the first time that those who were positive surpassed those who were against.
NATO talks
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that the military alliance would welcome Finland and Sweden into the fold if they decided to apply. CNN quoting officials said NATO and the United States would be happy if both countries joined the bloc.
Russia reacts
The Kremlin reported that a possible accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO’s military alliance would not bring stability to Europe.
“We have repeatedly said that the alliance remains a tool focused on confrontation and that its further expansion will not provide stability to the European continent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a conference call when asked about the possibility of Sweden and Finland joins NATO. according to Reuters.
With input from agencies
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