The reason that drove both Finland and Sweden was because of the awareness that under NATO treaties, an attack on any member would be considered an attack against all and trigger a military response by the entire alliance. (4) Both these two Baltic States decided to abandon their long-held nonaligned status and apply to join NATO as protection against an increasingly aggressive and unpredictable Russia after its military operation in Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called it “a historic decision”. After protracted negotiations, Turkey agreed to lift its opposition, paving the way for the two Baltic States to join NATO. It had reservations over Finland and Sweden joining the alliance. Turkey is an influential member of the NATO alliance. When finally Finland became a NATO member in April 2023, it represented the biggest change in the Nordic country’s defense and security policy since World War II, when it fought against the Soviet Union. Public opinion in the two countries quickly shifted toward favouring membership, first in Finland and a bit later in Sweden, after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. In fact, Russia’s aggression in Ukraine prompted Finland and Sweden to reconsider their traditions of military nonalignment and contemplate joining NATO. (3) Finland President Niinisto blamed Russia as the cause for his nation of 5.5 million people seeking membership of NATO. Johnson’s key guarantee was a political declaration as opposed to an international treaty guarantee as of high value at the time when tensions had heightened over the Ukraine crisis.īoris Johnson also pledged to come to the aid of Sweden and Finland if the two Baltic nations came under attack or come under Russian intimidation at least bilaterally if not collectively. The offer of security assurances was more than a piece of symbolism designed to nudge the two countries over the line into making a joint application for NATO. When then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited both Finland and Sweden in May 2022, he signed a military cooperation agreement. This led Finland to join the NATO alliance. Since Finland has the longest border with Russia out of all the European Union’s 27 members, it felt its security is vulnerable in the wake of Russian aggression in Ukraine. While Finland’s membership of NATO shall strengthen its security, it has to deal with Russia as the latter reacted with a warning that it would “inflict serious damage to Russian-Finnish relations as well as stability and security in Northern Europe”. Since May 2022, Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin had been working hard to fulfil the conditions set by certain NATO member that finally facilitated Finland’s entry into the grouping. (1) Finland’s leaders had been lobbying for quite some time to join the NATO alliance when it finally succeeded in joining the alliance seen as a counterpoint to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine that posed a security threat to the Baltic state. When NATO welcomed Finland as its 31 st member in April 2023 after considerable delay over Turkey’s reservations, the prospects for another Baltic state, Sweden, brightened. Case of Finland and Sweden in NATO grouping This article shall examine these two issues in two different segments for a holistic view of how the world events are likely to unfold in the coming months and years. In this context, two developments centring NATO that has hogged world attention need special mention and in-depth analysis: expansion of the NATO with the accession of Finland and likely accession of Sweden into the grouping, and likely opening of a liaison office of NATO in Tokyo.
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