More NATO members commit to security with Sweden and Finland

Denmark, Iceland and Norway join the list of countries that have made defense commitments to Sweden and Finland. This commitment was made when the two Nordic countries officially applied to become members of the NATO military alliance.

Accordingly, on May 17, three European countries announced they would defend Sweden and Finland in the event of an attack during their application to join NATO.

“The security of Finland and Sweden is a common concern for all of us. If Finland or Sweden is the victim of aggression on their territory before becoming a member of NATO, we will have to support them in any way necessary.” joint declaration of the three countries Denmark, Iceland and Norway stated, and at the same time vowed to “immediately begin preparations to implement these security guarantees”.

The new security guarantees come on the day Sweden officially announced it would ask to join NATO, a day after neighboring Finland did the same. Leaders in both countries have expressed deep concern after Russia launched a military campaign against Ukraine at the end of win 2. They believe that Moscow’s move has fundamentally changed the security environment in the country. area.

Moscow has long warned against the continued eastward expansion of the US-led military alliance, seeing the bloc as “tools for confrontation”. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov recently said that Finland or Sweden becoming a member would certainly increase the “military tension” in Eastern Europe, while Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev suggested deploying nuclear weapons on Russia’s western borders.

President Vladimir Putin appeared to offer a more moderated, placid response on May 16. He declared Moscow “no matter what” with Stockholm or Helsinki and their accession to NATO “does not pose a direct threat to Russia.”

However, Mr. Putin also emphasized “The expansion of NATO’s military infrastructure into Swedish or Finnish territory will certainly force us to respond,” he said. and Russia’s response “will be based on threats to us.”

Before Denmark, Iceland and Norway made security commitments to Sweden and Finland, The US and UK were the first countries to voice their security guarantees when applying for NATO membership. To date, Turkey is the only NATO member to speak out against Stockholm and Helsinki joining the NATO military bloc.

On May 16, the news agency Anadolu reported, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would not accept Sweden and Finland to become NATO members.

Although Sweden and Finland have applied to join NATO, the process for these two countries to become members of this military alliance is said to be not easy. Because according to NATO regulations, a country can only be officially admitted if it receives the consent of all member countries in the bloc.