It is high time for Sweden and Finland to reconsider their neutral status and become a NATO member to support stability and security in Europe.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson responded to so called European security guarantees offered by Russia. She stated that the European security regime is not the subject to negotiate. International law must be respected and valued. It includes the right of each state to make its own security policy decisions independently. In fact, Mrs.Anderson admitted that in the country’s national interests Sweden can join the Alliance.
Likewise, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö stressed that NATO membership decision is made between the candidate country and the Alliance itself. As he said Finland’s foreign and security policy stipulates the possibility to apply for NATO membership and, thereby strengthen security in Europe.
The last decade has shown that only state who can justify its NATO neutral status is the one who borders on democratic countries where the sovereignty of other states and international law is respected.
Against the background of the situation aggravation on the borders of Ukraine, aggressive intensions towards Sweden and Finland are openly broadcast on Russian state TV-channels. For instance, one TV-program mentioned the scenario of a landing operation on the Swedish island of Gotland, deployment of air defense systems and missile systems and the establishment of a 500-kilometers S2/AD zone around the island.
According to the Kremlin’s variant of Russia’s ‘security zone’, Finland loses its own security and comes back to the Soviet times and its semi-dependent position when Moscow could deprive Helsinki of a right to accept the Marshall Plan or join the European Economic Community.
Colonel Martti J. Kari, a former assistant to the head of the intelligence department, believes that Finland should keep its eyes open as an open dialogue with Russia and a good neighbor image do not give Finland any security guarantees. If Russia decides to attack Finland, it will do it just because Moscow will need it. In a published interview for the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti, Martti J. Kari stressed about the Finnish government’s mistaken discussions regarding the NATO possible membership – Russia already sees Finland the alliance member.
Sweden and Finland are the countries that pose a threat to the Kremlin. It proves the way the Russians concentrate troops in Alakurtti and Petrozavodsk because of security concerns around the St. Petersburg-Murmansk line.
Finland and Sweden are part of the Joint Expeditionary Force. The UK-led Rapid Response Team is formed to speed up and simplify the procedure of joint response in crisis situations. However, in case of Russia’s attack on Finland, NATO will not be able to implement Article 5 of its Treaty towards the non-Alliance member.
All the threats coming from Moscow fuel some countries to join the NATO. After 2014, neutral status cannot be ever seen as a mechanism to minimize security threats – Russia could intervene in Ukraine because Kiev was neutral constitutionally.
However, the Kremlin’s desire to revive the Soviet Union and its influence zones pose a threat to the national security of many countries.
According to ex-Prime Minister of Finland Matti Vanhanen, the Kremlin claims to include Finland in the sphere of its interests that jeopardize the country’s sovereignty.
Moscow’s demand to halt NATO eastward expansion is accompanied by the active development of the CSTO, the key instrument to realize the Kremlin’s interests abroad. The CSTO’s military intervention in Kazakhstan is based on Moscow’s decision following the mission to introduce a Russian military contingent into the country. Thus, at the expense of the CSTO’s armed forces Russia has increased its military potential to conduct its own expeditionary operations.
Taking into account the mentioned circumstances NATO membership becomes the only effective tool to neutralize threats coming from increasingly aggressive Russia.
