Deciding to join NATO after Russia Feb. 24 war in Ukraine, Finland announced today that plans to join the Trans-Atlantic Alliance after warnings from the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin, 69, knows that Helsinki was aligned with the Western Alliance all through the Cold War, having no interest in the now defunct Warsaw Pact Alliance. Invading Ukraine solidified Finland’s decision to join NATO, watching Ukraine invaded for what Putin calls “military-technical measures,” essentially taking too many arms primarily from the United States. “NATO’s membership would strengthen Finland’s security,” said a joint statement from Prime Minister Sanna Marin and President Sauli Ninisto, both agreeing with new polls showing 74% of the public supports NATO membership. Before the Ukraine War, only 24% of the public backed joining the Western Alliance.
Finland’s timing of joining NATO could not be worse with the war in Ukraine raging. “As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance,” Marin and Ninisto said. Joining NATO now slaps Putin in the face, knowing that there’s nothing he can do other than harass Helsinki with more threats. Putin’s war in Ukraine has cost the Russian military in terms of losses of soldiers and military hardware. So opening up another front in Finland is not in the cards. Joining NATO, something denied for the last eight years to Ukraine, would provide Finland a layer of protection currently not available. Despite begging for NATO membership, Secretary-General Jens Stotenberg denied Ukraine membership because they’ve been at war with Russian separatists since 2014. Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodynyr Zelensky chastised NATO for not letting Ukraine join the alliance.
Whether admitted to or not by Biden or Zelensky, Ukraine has lost much of its Black Sea coastline during the nearly three-month war, leaving Putin with a corridor between the port of Kherson and Sevastopol, Crimea. Whatever negotiations take place to reclaim some Ukrainian territory, Ukraine continues to lose ground every day the war goes on. Biden’s plan to topple the Russian government or degrade Putin’s military is preposterous, a failed strategy from the get-go. Biden and his former boss President Barack Obama, spent billions on Syrian rebel groups, all in failure, when Russian saved Bashar al-Assad’s Damascus regime. No, Biden and Zelensky have a joint fantasy that they’re going to topple the Russian Federation. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, former head of the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank [ECB] told Biden May 12 to stop the war against the Russian Federation.
Finland’s President Sauli Ninisto said that the Ukraine War pushed the Finnish people to seek NATO membership. “You caused this. Look at the mirror,” Ninisto said, telling Moscow it had only itself to blame. But Ninisto really doesn’t have to throw gasoline on the fire, knowing that Findand and neighboring Sweden have been cooperating with NATO for years. There’s nothing unusual or surprising about Finland or Sweden joining NATO because they’ve been unofficial members for years. Putin has few options to stop Finland or Sweden from joining NATO, largely because they’ve been cooperating with the alliance for years. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reacted harshly to Finland’s decision to joint NATO.”[Russia’s reaction] will depend on what this expansion process will entail, how far and how close to our borders the military infrastructure will move.”
Russia will watch the positioning of troop deployments, missiles or other heavy armaments near the Russian border. Joining NATO is no real surprise to Moscow since they’ve been cooperating with NATO during the Cold War. Finland was once called “Finlansized” by U.S. war hawks to refer to the subjugation of Finland under threats of the Soviet Union. When you consider the history of Poland since WW II, it too was under Russian influence during most of the Cold War, eventually breaking away during after the 1991 end of the Soviet Union. Putin fears NATO encroachment because much of Eastern Europe, former Soviet satellites, have opted to join NATO, with our without Moscow’s threats. Today’s Kremlin reaction to Finland and Sweden joining NATO are largely Kremlin bluster, because there’s little Russia can do to stop Scandinavian countries from joining.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed a security pact with Finland and Sweden, guaranteeing that Britain would respond to any attack on either country from Russia. “I think the solemn declaration is itself clear. And what I says is that in the event of a disaster, or in the event of an attack on either of us, then yes, we will come to each other’s assistance, including with military assisatance,” Johnson said, about NATO’s commitment to Finland and Sweden. Russia’s Foreign Minister reacted harshly to Finland and Sweden’s announcement about joining NATO. “Finland joining NATO is a radical change in the country’s foreign policy. Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop threats to its national security arising,” said Russia’s Foreign Ministry. Putin knows that he has no conceivable moves against Finland and Sweden.
