by Brayden Yee
As Russia’s military war on Ukraine continues, historically neutral countries Finland, and neighbor Sweden have been reviewing whether or not neutrality is the best for national security.
On May 1st, Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Ann Linde, stated that Finland was almost certainly applying for NATO membership. Linde stated that if one of the countries were to join, the other would likely follow suit, but stated that Sweden has not made a decision on the matter yet.
In the past month, both presidents of the countries have stated that they are wondering whether or not to join NATO, and may join as early as mid-May. New opinion polls have swayed in the favor of joining the military alliance: 68% of Finnish citizens now support the country joining the alliance, over double the amount from before the invasion of Ukraine. Polls also report that a slim majority supports Sweden joining too.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated that the US will strongly support NATO membership for both countries if they were to submit their applications. The statement will likely draw more tension from Russia, which recently threatened to move its nuclear arsenal closer to the borders of Finland and Sweden if they chose to join the military alliance. If Finland and Sweden were to join, they would have the protection of the US from Russia, however, it may spark more conflict and risk more aggression from Russia. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Putin demanded that NATO not expand further, accusing the alliance of wanting to encircle Russia, and calling any increase in NATO membership unacceptable.
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