Finland, Sweden to join NATO to enhance security environment amid Russia-Ukraine war

Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson have announced ahead of the meeting in Stockholm on Wednesday that they would be making the decision of applying for NATO membership before the Alliance's summit scheduled in Madrid, in June 2020. At a joint press conference, Finland iterated that it will make the decision to give up its neutral status and join NATO due to the "fundamentally changed" security environment in Europe, referring to Ukraine's invasion by Moscow. Finnish leader Marin stated at the conference that she could not provide the exact timeline for joining the Alliance but that the decision was just weeks away. 

Sweden meanwhile iterated that the application is subject to the assessment of the prevailing security situation as Russia has invaded Ukraine. But the two leaders clarified that the decision is pending "before midsummer.” 

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said at the news conference: "I am ready to take a position as soon as the parliament receives enough information and we will know the positions of the parties." 

NATO Alliance to ratify the two nations’ membership

The 30 members of the NATO Alliance would have to ratify the two nations’ membership, which is likely as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had earlier asserted that the Alliance’s door is open to any country and remains at their own discretion. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had earlier threatened “serious military consequences” against Finland and Sweden should they give up on their neutrality and join NATO. The warning came shortly after Russia’s powerful military forces launched a fierce armed offensive, which they describe as a “special military intervention” in Kyiv for making a proposal of joining the NATO alliance as the tense multifront negotiations faltered. 

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, though, categorically warned Finland and Sweden, the two EU nations, against attempting to join NATO as the prospects of joining the alliance became a key reason for Moscow to wage a war inside Ukraine. Moscow had also dispatched written letters to both Finland and Sweden, demanding security guarantees, as it stated that the two NATO allied nations must “comply with commitments not to strengthen their security at the expense of the security of others.” Despite the warnings, the leaders of both countries stress Finland and Sweden have announced that they would be submitting a written application to the Alliance. 

Sweden, Finland's NATO membership can raise threshold of military force in Baltic Sea region: Finnish MoD

A Finnish government-commissioned report outlined that the war in Ukraine is rendering these nations anxious about their own security. The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is slated to take up the matter in the parliament with an opening debate planned for Wednesday. The White Paper from Finland’s defence ministry warns that "should Finland and Sweden become NATO members, the threshold for using military force in the Baltic Sea region would rise, which would enhance the stability of the region in the long term.” 

“The war started by Russia endangers security and stability in entire Europe,” Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said in the report. “Russia’s attack on Ukraine will have a long-lasting impact on our own security environment. Trust in Russia has plummeted,” she asserted. 

Finland shares the EU's longest 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Moscow and in 1917 had declared independence having fought one Winter War in 1939 with the Soviets following the invasion. Russia declared that should they align with defensive NATO, there would be “military and political consequences” for both Helsinki and Stockholm as it would pose a direct threat to Moscow’s national security. But the two neighbouring Nordic nations Finland and Sweden announced that they will focus on the security policy arrangements to decide whether to join NATO. “But we do that with a clear understanding that our choices will affect not only ourselves but our neighbours as well,” Marin said at the conference. Meanwhile, Andersson stressed Sweden and Finland would have “a very close dialogue and have a very straightforward and honest discussion” about joining the Alliance.