Finland & Sweden warm up to idea of joining NATO amid Russian war in Ukraine: Report

Prompted by the Russian war in Ukraine, leaders in Finland and Sweden for the first time have expressed willingness to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), a move likely to infuriate Moscow. According to a report published by The Times, the two neutral Nordic countries edging closer to seeking membership in the international military bloc marks a "massive strategic blunder" by Russia in its all-out invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking to Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet on April 9, Sweden Democrats (second-largest opposition in Sweden) leaders said that they would favour Finland should they apply to join the military alliance. "What's changed now is that Finland is very clearly moving toward a NATO membership, and there are many indications this may happen in the near future. That, and the fact Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, is completely alone, has made me turn," Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson told the publication. "My ambition is to go to the party council with a request that we change our mind," the leader added. A recent poll in Sweden also showed that the majority of Swedes are inclined toward the country joining the bloc.

In Finland, the government coalition partners, Center Party said it would support the move by the country leadership if it pursued NATO membership based on the new security legion, RFA reported. While it is pertinent to mention that the Center Party always kept from alignment with military matters, but Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent opinion polls have pointed out that a majority of Center Party support the idea of Finland joining the alliance.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Martin, however, has not clarified her stance on the decision over joining NATO. She said, given the security situation in eastern Europe, the Parliament is expected to be deliberate on the matter "in the coming weeks" with a decision "before mid-summer."

"I think we will have very careful discussions, but we are also not taking any more time than we have to in this process, because the situation is, of course, very severe," she said. As cited by RFA, Marin has stated that she aimed that Finland and Sweden arrived at alike decisions around the same time.

Meanwhile, Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson also did not rule out the possibility of members. In an interview with SVT earlier in March, Andersson said that Stockholm is analysing the security policy which is expected to be completed by May following which Sweden will arrive at a decision. A Swedish official also told CNN that the country could, however, announce a decision earlier, depending on Finland's position.

Discussions over Finland & Sweden joining NATO 'extremely serious': NATO officials

The matter of Finland and Sweden joining NATO was taken up during the foreign minister's summit, which was attended by top diplomats from Stockholm and Helinski, as informed by US State Department officials. Following the developments, NATO officials told CNN that the deliberations over the Nordic countries joining the bloc have gotten "extremely serious" since the Russian invasion.

Finland and Sweden joining the bloc render a severe blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's goals to thwart the expansion of the Western alliance military towards ex-Soviet borders, citing security threats, the officials said, adding that the war has only increased support to Ukraine and prepared NATO to welcome new members.

(Image: AP)