Finland’s joining NATO would pose a threat to Russia and will not help make the world safer, warns Moscow
Moscow has warned that Finland’s accession to NATO would pose a direct threat to Russia’s security and its acceptance into the military alliance would prompt Russia to develop measures to ensure its security. This is after Finnish officials on Thursday confirmed their commitment to join the US-led bloc and announced plans to file a formal application later this week.
“There is a current instruction from the President to draw up a list of measures to strengthen our western flanks in connection with the strengthening of NATO’s eastern flanks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a daily press conference on Thursday, adding that NATO was expanding. against Russia’s borders will not make the world or the Eurasian continent safer.
He added that Russia regretted Finland’s decision to join the hostile steps taken by the EU and warned that Helsinki’s attempts to join NATO would serve as a reason to develop their respective mirror responses.
The statement comes after Finnish leaders on Thursday announced a commitment to apply for membership in the US-led military bloc. President Sauli Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin expressed their view that “as a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance”, adding that their country “must apply for NATO membership without delay”.
Officials said they plan to write a formal application for membership on Sunday, after which the letter will be forwarded to parliament for final approval. It is expected that the application can be completed and submitted to NATO as early as next Monday.
NATO claims to be a purely defensive organization, but Russia, which shares a 1,340 km (833 km) land border with Finland, perceives the bloc’s expansion as a threat to its national security.
Last month, former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently chairing the Security Council, said that if Finland and Sweden became members of NATO, Russia could be forced to deploy nuclear weapons into the Baltic Sea region in order to maintain its “balance of power.”
(RT.com)