Russia objected to NATO’s joining, and now the country has joined

NATO and Finnish Security: A Cold War Between Europe and the Cold Cold War, and the U.S.-Mexico War on NATO

Finnish membership will produce little change for the moment, except for the key psychological boost to the security of Finland and the alliance from NATO’s commitment to collective defense. If Finland should be attacked, it can now call on all members of the alliance for aid, and Finland commits to come to the aid of other alliance members.

In a statement, President Joe Biden praised the addition of Finland to NATO, and pointed out it was the fastest ratification process in NATO’s modern history.

The invasion instead drove non-aligned Finland and Sweden to abandon their neutrality and seek protection within NATO, though Sweden’s attempt to join the bloc has been stalled by alliance members Turkey and Hungary.

“We will strengthen our military capabilities in the west and northwest if NATO members deploy forces and equipment on Finnish territory,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Mr. Pesu stated thatFinland would deepen its existing defense relationships with countries like the US, Britain, Sweden, and Norway. Its Russia policy will be more focused on deterrence than on defense.

Biden said that when Putin launched his war of aggression against the people of Ukraine, he thought he could divide Europe and NATO. He was wrong. We are united more than ever.

It includes the NATO’s article 5 principle which states that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all NATO members. It’s been a cornerstone of the 30-member alliance since it was founded in 1949 as a counterweight to the Soviet Union.

NATO, Security, and Arms: Why Finland is Good for Sweden and What It Means to Be for Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The combined armies of Sweden, Poland, Germany, and Norway don’t have a lot of weaponry, but that isn’t because the Finns have more weapons than they do.

A November report from the Washington-based Wilson Center lists three key areas where Finland benefits NATO: reserve forces, technology access and artillery forces.

The Wilson Center report also noted Finland’s strong cyber security record, pointing out the country is home to Nokia, “a major provider of 5G infrastructure,” and one of three major providers of 5G infrastructure in the world, along with Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei.

And it said Finland can muster 900,000 reserves who have been trained as conscripts in its armed forces. It says the wartime strength of the Finns is 280,000 troops.

NATO has an open-door policy, meaning that any country can be invited to join if it expresses an interest, as long as it is able and willing to uphold the principles of the alliance’s founding treaty.

There is hope for Sweden’s bid, however. On Monday, Stoltenberg said Finland’s accession is “in itself something we should celebrate” but that it was also good for Sweden.

President Sauli Niinisto of Finland attended the ceremony, on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 74th anniversary, for the expansion of NATO, which represents a strategic defeat for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has made blocking NATO expansion a goal of his leadership.

Mr. Niinisto said that it was a great day for his country. He said that this is the day most significant to them and to their partners. He said that Russia tried to create a sphere around Finns and restrict their freedom of choice. “We are not a sphere.”

A new Finnish government, still to be negotiated after an election on Sunday, will have to decide whether Finland will accept foreign troops on its soil, for example — NATO now has troops in other frontline states with Russia — or even nuclear weapons belonging to allies.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who is up for re-election on May 14, continues to express his displeasure with what he considers Sweden’s inadequate commitment to fighting terrorism, focusing on those living in Sweden whom Mr. Erdogan regards as terrorists, including certain Kurds and others he believes supported a 2016 coup attempt against him. Sweden’s entry is being blocked by Hungary.

The two-day NATO meeting will focus on Ukraine and how to accelerate the country’s transition to NATO-compatible military equipment and ammunition. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, will also be there.

Finland and Sweden applied NATO membership in the 1930s and 1940s: a comment on Prime Minister Biden’s remarks on the Baltic peninsula

Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center’s Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program, says that the Finnish people “have a long history of self-defense, resilience. They began their war against Russia in 1930 and then continued it into the 1940s to defend themselves against the Soviet Union.

In President Biden’s statement on Tuesday, he pointed out that both Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership at the same time, close to a year ago.

Emma Ashford of the Stimson Center points out that this is a problem for the military operations ofFinland and Sweden since they have long had integrated defense cooperation.