Russia Believes Finland’s Entry Into NATO Increases the Risk of War Breaking Out in Europe
Jose Nino
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Russia believes that Finland’s entry into NATO is “a dangerous historic mistake” and will reduce security in Northern Europe and heighten the risk of future conflicts.
“The security of these Nordic countries will not increase, but rather decline as a result of Finland’s accession to NATO,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on April 4.
Ryabkov announced that Russia would respond with measures in the military-technical sphere to deal with potential threats in Russia’s northern flank.
The Russian diplomat stressed that Finland and Sweden had succumbed to “the Russophobic frenzy,” calling attention to how they had failed to follow their own national interests and blindly joined the anti-Russia bandwagon in Europe.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO. Press TV noted that all 30 NATO member nations signed Finland’s and Sweden’s accession protocols. Hungary and Turkey stalled this process for months but eventually capitulated on bringing Finland to its fold. Turkey has demanded that the two Nordic nations give it assurances and guarantees.
On Hungary’s part, its demands have not been explicit.
“Helsinki’s policy of military non-alignment had long served Finnish national interests and was an important factor of confidence-building in the Baltic Sea region and the European continent as a whole,” the Russian Foreign Ministry declared in a statement.
“This is now a thing of the past. Finland has become one of the small members of the alliance that doesn’t decide anything, losing its special voice in international affairs. We are sure that history will judge this hasty step,” the ministry continued.
On top of that, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned that Finland’s NATO membership “creates the risks of a significant expansion of conflict,” but it would not have an impact on Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov also stated that Russia would be compelled to implement “counter-measures” as a response to Finland’s accession to NATO, which will depend on the type of military actions and installations set up in Finland.
NATO expansion is an “encroachment on our security and on Russia’s national interests,” Peskov declared.
Adding Finland into NATO just creates another potential conflict zone for the West to confront Russia in. If Finnish politicians hit their history books hard, they’d be wise to recognize that the US is ultimately a self-interested superpower that treats countries across Europe like pawns on the geopolitical chessboard. In Finland’s case, it could easily be turned into a sacrificial lamb if DC had its way and tried instigating a conflict in that region.
Those are the many perils of being a US ally.
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