It is now clear – Finland will apply for NATO membership on Sunday. Sweden will submit an application on Monday according to information.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced on Thursday that they believe that Finland must “apply” for NATO membership “as soon as possible”. This removes any remaining question marks about Finland’s decision on the issue of NATO membership.
“NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security. As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance. Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay “, Niinistö and Marin write in a joint press release .
Furthermore, they write that some national measures still required to make this decision will be taken urgently in the next few days.
They also noted that an important debate about NATO was held in the spring, something that happened after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “an act of aggression” that has changed both the Finnish and Swedish perceptions of NATO membership. This is something that both countries have previously been negative about, as they had instead chosen to maintain a principle of neutrality and their own defense cooperation.
“Time has been needed to formulate a national position, both in the Riksdag and in society at large. Time has been needed for close international contacts with both NATO and its member states and with Sweden. We have wanted to give the debate the space it requires,” it stated in the press release.
On Saturday, the Finnish Social Democrats will announce their position on the issue, and on the same day all parties in the country’s Riksdag are expected to have done the same. A formal decision will then be made on Sunday in the Finnish Parliament. According to almost all political observers, it is clear that there is a large majority for Finnish NATO membership both among the population and among the political parties.
Sweden to submit the application on Monday
For Sweden, the Swedish Social Democrats will soon hold the last digital meeting on the NATO issue. In a couple of strongly criticized member meetings, the party has let the party leadership, all pro-NATO, discuss the issue without ordinary members being allowed to ask questions or comment.
The Social Democrats have long been opposed to Swedish membership in the defense alliance NATO, something that was expressed at the party’s congress in November where a majority voted to maintain the Swedish neutrality policy. The opposition of their own voters and party members was succinct when it came to NATO membership, but the party leadership has turned the issue around and also made a decision that allows the party leadership to ignore what the party members want.
On Friday, the security policy analysis group, where all parliamentary parties are represented, will be ready with its report which will be presented at a press conference. There will be no clear wording that Sweden should join NATO but the conclusion will be clear between the lines, according to several sources quoted in Swedish daily Expressen.
Among the Swedish parliamentary parties, only the Left Party and the Green Party are still opposed to NATO membership, and thus the way has been cleared, even though the Social Democrats will formally make a decision only on Sunday.
On Monday, there will be an extra parliamentary debate on the security policy analysis. According to Expressen’s sources, the Prime Minister will convene an extra government meeting later on Monday where the historic decision will be made. Immediately after the meeting, the application for NATO membership will be submitted, if nothing unforeseen occurs.
The next day, the Finnish president Sauli Niinistö is expected in Sweden for a two-day state visit to conduct “bilateral discussions” with Swedish premier Magdalena Andersson.
Former UN weapons inspector likens it to boarding the Titanic
Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector who uncovered the Bush administration’s lies about Iraq’s WMDs has expressed reservations about the decision by both countries to join NATO.
In a YouTube video [at 31:30] Ritter compares the move by Finland and Sweden as similar to wanting a seat on the Titanic. Neither has anything to gain by joining NATO and a lot to lose. According to Ritter, a former US Marine intelligence officer, it makes no sense to want to be part of an alliance which has no future while complicating relations with a neighboring country.
After the end of WWII, Finland had signed a treaty with Russia in which it had undertaken to remain neutral “in perpetuity”. Its plan to join NATO breaks this promise, said Ritter. Moreover, an essential element of Finland’s active neutrality policy was the concept of a Nordic Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone (Nordic NWFZ) introduced in 1963.
Ritter reminded the two countries that the US, as in the case of Ukraine, will not be committing troops to their security. Instead Finland and Sweden will be expected to put blood and treasure on the line. Sweden has thus far avoided military alliances for more than 200 years.
The EU put the latter verbatim in its press release: “A stronger and more capable EU in the field of security and defense will make a constructive contribution to global and transatlantic security and is complementary to NATO, which remains the bedrock of collective defense for its members. It will also give greater support to the rules-based world order centered on the United Nations.” This happens to be the same UN that champions the globalist “Agenda 2030”.
The President of Croatia has however made it known that he will veto the planned extension as it is “a very dangerous adventure”. President Zoran Milanović would block the admission of Sweden and Finland, he said at the NATO summit in Madrid.
Ex-President Medvedev warns of nuclear war
Russia’s response to the two countries’ joint application to the Defense Alliance remains to be seen.
Finland shares a 1 300 km border with Russia. The Nordic country with its 5,5 million inhabitants has an army of 280 000 soldiers and currently has 600 000 reservists. In addition, the government announced in early April that it would increase military spending. According to the dpa news agency, more than 75 percent of Finns were in favor of NATO membership in recent polls. Scott Ritter underscored however that it would make more sense to have cordial relations with a very powerful neighbor instead of promoting conflict.
Russia has previously threatened consequences if its neighboring country joined NATO. Former Russian President and current number two on the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said the Kremlin could move hypersonic missiles and nuclear weapons to the border if necessary. According to him, the conflict harbors the risk of “ending in a full-scale nuclear war”.
The Kremlin has meanwhile reacted to Finland’s possible entry into NATO, describing it as a threat to Russia. “Another expansion of NATO will not make our continent more stable and secure,” government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, according to the Interfax agency.
His country would analyze the consequences of Finland’s accession with a view to its own security. He criticized that NATO was continuously moving towards Russia. Everything now depends on how the further process of enlargement develops and which military infrastructure is transferred to the borders of Russia.
In a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Finland’s NATO membership, it noted that “joining NATO will also be a direct violation of the international legal obligations of Finland, primarily the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947, which provides for the obligation of the parties not to enter into alliances or participate in coalitions directed against one of them, as well as the 1992 Treaty between Russia and Finland on the basis of relations, which established that the parties will refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of the other party, will not use or allow the use of their territory for armed aggression against the other party. However, given the current indifferent attitude of the collective West to international law, such behavior has become the norm”.
During the year-long ratification process, NATO countries would increase their troop presence in the region and hold maneuvers in the Baltic Sea.