The prospect of a country sharing a 1,300km border with Russia joining NATO

Minister of European Affairs of FinlandMs. Tytti Tuppurainen told Sky News on April 15 that the majority of Finns support the country’s accession to the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“It is very likely that Finland will apply to join NATO. At this point, I would say it is highly probable, but no decision has been made yet,” said Ms. Tuppurainen.

Ms. Tuppurainen claimed “the majority” of Finns wanted the country to join the military alliance but said a decision had not yet been made in parliament.

Finland shares a 1,300km land border with Russia and was, before 1917, part of the Russian Empire, but it remained neutral during the Cold War.

Ms. Tuppurainen called Russia’s Ukraine campaign a “wake-up call” and said she hoped the accession process NATO of Helsinki will “take place as quickly as possible”.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on April 13 that Helsinki was considering the prospect of applying to join NATO, as was neighboring Sweden.

At a joint press conference in Stockholm announcing the move, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that Russia’s attack on Ukraine had “completely changed” the “security landscape” of Europe.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova argued that the two historically unaligned countries would become a platform used by NATO to threaten Russia if it joined the US-led military bloc.

“Of course, the choice belongs to the authorities Sweden and Finland. But they should realize the consequences of such a move for our bilateral relations and the European security architecture, which is currently in a state of crisis,” Zakharova said.

Finland was part of the Russian Empire before its successful independence in 1917. The Soviet Union and Finland fought a bloody war between 1939-1940, which resulted in Finland having to concede part of its territory. for Russia.

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine at the end of February, after accusing Kiev of failing to fulfill the terms of the Minsk agreement, first signed in 2014 and eventually Moscow’s recognition of the the self-proclaimed Donbass republics Donetsk and Lugansk. The Minsk agreement brokered by Germany and France was designed to give the breakaway regions special status in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has since requested Ukraine officially declared a neutral country and will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian attack is completely unprovoked and rejects claims it is planning to retake the two republics in the Donbass by force.