Stab in the back of Moscow: neutral Finland wants to join NATO

Gennady Charodeev

“We are not talking about joining NATO tomorrow. Finland retains the option to apply to join the alliance. We must cherish this freedom of choice and preserve it, because it concerns the right of each country to make its own decisions in the field of security, ”said Marin, speaking on the air of the Finnish TV channel Yle.

Interestingly, on August 26, NATO representatives announced that an agreement was being prepared in Brussels with "support for Finland and Sweden." At the same time, Finnish Defense Minister Karl Haglund said that Helsinki and Stockholm would reconsider relations with the alliance in connection with the crisis in Ukraine.

The head of the State Duma's international committee, Alexei Pushkov, in turn, noted that "this would be the end of the neutrality of the two states." According to him, until now they were NATO partners, but now the level of cooperation will increase dramatically. The logical next step after the signing of such an agreement is the direct entry of these countries into the alliance.

For Russia, this may mean the approach of the North Atlantic Alliance close to the borders of the Russian Federation.

Political scientist Yevgeny Satanovsky recalled that Finland from 1809 to 1917 was an autonomous state within the Russian Empire. In the war of 1939-1940, the Finns defended their independence, albeit at the cost of hefty territorial losses. As a result of the Great Patriotic War, Stalin left this very independence of Finland, despite the fact that he could easily liquidate it. And he did it in exchange for the neutrality of the country.

Today a new generation of politicians is trying to reconsider the outcome of World War II and does not understand the value of neutrality status for Finland. This could lead to war, the expert said.

In an interview with NI, international analyst Maxim Yusin said:

- The statement of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin at such a difficult moment is a bad sign for Moscow. Traditionally, it so happened that it was Helsinki, unlike other Western countries, that took a balanced position in relation to Russia. Now, at the moment of the highest tension between Moscow and Washington, before the start of negotiations in Geneva, Moscow received a stab in the back. If Finland joins NATO, it will radically change the entire geostrategic alignment in Europe. After all, the border between our two countries since the Second World War has been an example of stability and predictability, and now it can become the border between two opposing blocs.

According to the analyst, the position of the current President of Finland, Sauli Niiniste, looks especially strange - he has developed a good personal relationship with Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin clearly did not expect such a demarche from him.

- Now one thing is clear - if we agree on something, then with the United States. If you negotiate with Europe, where each country has its own opinion, has the right to veto, this is a dead-end path. The stakes are higher than ever. Either on January 9-10 in Geneva we are negotiating with the Americans, or the development of events will proceed according to a very dangerous, unpredictable scenario, Maksim Yusin emphasized "NI".

Meanwhile, the Advisory Council on Defense Information under the Finnish Defense Ministry has ordered a survey among the country's residents about their attitude to the government's security policy. It turned out that 51 percent of Finns were against Finland's accession to NATO, 24 percent supported this prospect, and the same number of respondents found it difficult to answer.