Finland and Sweden confirm intention to join NATO

PanARMENIAN.Net - The leaders of Finland and Sweden have confirmed they intend to join NATO, signifying a historic Nordic policy shift triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that will redraw the security map of Europe, The Guardian reports.

Abandoning decades of military non-alignment, the two countries’ governments will present their proposals to their respective parliaments on Monday, May 16 and are expected to formally submit a joint membership application to the 30-member alliance as soon as the decisions are ratified.

“The president and the government’s foreign policy committee have agreed that after consulting parliament, Finland will apply for NATO membership,” president Sauli Niinistö said, hailing the decision as “a historic day” for the Nordic country.

“A new era is opening,” Niinistö said. “A protected Finland is being born as part of a stable, strong and responsible Nordic region. We gain security, and we also share it. It’s good to keep in mind that security isn’t a zero-sum game.”

Finland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, said she hoped parliament would confirm the decision “in the coming days”, adding that as a member of NATO, Finland would help reinforce not just the 30-member, US-led defensive alliance but also “strengthen the EU, whose voice in NATO can become stronger”.

A few hours later, Sweden’s Social Democrats said they had jettisoned their previous opposition to NATO membership, with Moscow’s onslaught on Ukraine looking set to usher in the very expansion of NATO Vladimir Putin claimed he wanted to prevent.

“The best thing for the security of Sweden and the Swedish people is to join NATO,” the prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, told a news conference. “We believe Sweden needs the formal security guarantees that come with membership in NATO.”

She said non-alignment had served Sweden well but “will not do so in the future”. Sweden would be “vulnerable” as the only country in the Baltic region outside NATO, she said, adding that Stockholm hoped to submit a joint application with Helsinki.

“Tomorrow I will assure broad parliamentary support in the Riksdag for a Swedish membership application,” Andersson said. The issue has divided her party, with some members objecting that the decision was rushed through. The Social Democrats remain opposed to nuclear weapons or permanent NATO military bases on Swedish soil.

The two Nordic countries’ announcements came as western agencies reported that Russia had suffered heavy military losses in Ukraine and risked getting further bogged down in the strategically important east of the country amid stiff resistance.