AP
NATO
Kremlin
FINLAND
NORDIC REGIONNATO
Nordic Defense Cooperation
NORDEFCO
Integrated NATO
RUSSIAPutin
Vladimir Putin
Lithuania.___Karl Ritter
Jari Tanner
Finnish
Russian
European
Nordic
Western
Russians
Europe
Northern Europe
Atlantic
Baltic Sea
the North Atlantic
Arctic
Kola Peninsula
West
the Baltic Sea
Kaliningrad
BRUSSELS
Finland
Russia
Ukraine
Sweden
Switzerland
Moscow
the United States
Britain
Denmark
Norway
Iceland
St. Petersburg
NATOFinland
Gripen
Poland
Stockholm
Helsinki
The NATO
Sweden could soon follow suit.Should they apply for membership, the move would have far-reaching ramifications for Northern Europe and trans-Atlantic security.No doubt, it will also anger their large neighbor Russia, which blames, at least in part, its war in Ukraine on NATO’s continued expansion closer to its borders. The Kremlin said Thursday that it certainly won’t improve European security.The following is a brief look at what Finland and Sweden’s membership in the 30-country NATO alliance could mean, with the Nordic partners expected to announce their intention to join within days.FINLAND AND SWEDENNot neutral like Switzerland, Finland and Sweden traditionally think of themselves as militarily “nonaligned.” But Russia’s war in Ukraine and Putin’s apparent desire to establish a Moscow-centered “sphere of influence” has shaken their security notions to the core. But public opinion in Finland and Sweden suggests that he has driven them into NATO’s arms.
As said here by LORNE COOK