The Finns Will Decide If They Will Join NATO

Finland may make the call on whether to join NATO only weeks following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, with a decision likely during this spring.

The country may join the transatlantic military alliance despite warnings of retaliation and military and political consequences from the Kremlin.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin this weekend said that both joining NATO and not joining are choices that have consequences. She said that they need to consider both the short term and long term effects, but at the same time, they must keep in mind their goal, ensuring the safety of Finland and Finns in all situations.

Sanna Marin added that Finland’s association with neighbouring Russia had altered irreversibly after the attack on Ukraine and that it takes a lot of time and work for trust to be restored.

Finland shares an 830 mile (1,340 kilometre) border with Russia, the longest by any European Union member.

It has remained military non aligned, therefore not engaging in combat or warfare, since the end of the Cold War for fear of provoking Moscow.

This weekend the country’s foreign minister Pekka Haavisto said Russia’s activities in Ukraine have completely altered the security geography in Finland.

He told Kyodo News that Finland must be prepared for more negative military tactics.

This comes despite indications of retaliation from Moscow should the nation join NATO.

Last month a Russian politician warned of serious military and political consequences if Finland and Sweden joined the alliance.

Russian Foreign Ministry Second European Department Director Sergei Belyayev told Interfax that it was evident that Finland and Sweden’s joining NATO, which is a military alliance in the first place, would have profound military and political consequences requiring use to revise the entire range of relations with those nations and take retaliatory measures.

Last month Finland also noticed interference with passenger jet’s GPS signals near Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave and the country’s eastern border with Moscow.

Finnish airline Finnair said its pilots had noticed the disturbances near Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between NATO members Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea’s east coast.

Other aircraft reported unusual disturbances in GPS signals near Finland’s eastern border with Russia, with aircraft unable to disembark at Savonlinna airport due to the interference.

In February Helsinki also received letters from Russia, requesting clarity on the Nordic nation’s future concerning security.

Haavisto then told a newspaper outlet the instance reminded him of the Cold War when the country was used to this sort of Russian letter asking for consultations.

In December 2019, Marin was nominated by the Social Democratic Party to succeed Antti Rinne as the Prime Minister of Finland, but Antti Rinne formally remained party leader until June 2020.

In a narrow vote, Marin conquered Antti Lindtman.

The majority of ministers in her five-party cabinet are women, numbering 12 out of 19 at the time of the cabinet’s formation, and she’s the third female head of government in Finland, after Anneli Jäätteenmäki and Mari Kiviniemi.

Upon her confirmation by Parliament at the age of 34, she became Finland’s youngest-ever prime minister and was the youngest serving state leader until Sebastian Kurz regained the title in January 2020.

Vladimir Putin has started the most senseless conflict in history and quite clearly Finland isn’t going to let Vladimir Putin’s threats discourage them, but how will this end?

Is there anyone foolish enough to take Vladimir Putin out because he clearly seems to have lost his mind, and shouldn’t be allowed to stay in power?

The US has made it extremely apparent it has no interest in becoming a direct participant in the war and of course, any removal by force of a foreign head of state would definitely qualify as an act of war.

Some people are asking if we are close to World War III. Well, some analysts are saying that we’re already there and have been for several years, and the rationale is that a 21st-century world war would look significantly different to those of the 20th century.

For now, NATO is managing to stay out of it, ensuring it stays a conflict between Ukraine and Russia, but given that NATO is giving arms to Ukraine, conducting cyber offensive attacks and has launched an all-out economic war, it’s not unreasonable to believe that we’re already in a form of conflict with Russia.

If Vladimir Putin is eventually found guilty of war crimes, how will they go about bringing him and his associates to justice? Well, assuming that Vladimir Putin is removed from office and survives, then his successor might decide to hand him over for trial at the International Criminal Court, but Vladimir Putin will always retain some supporters in Russia, whatever happens, so the possibility of seeing Vladimir Putin in court one day is extremely slim.

And of course, the very worst-case scenario that could happen with Vladimir Putin’s special military operation is that there could be a nuclear attack, ordered by Vladimir Putin in an act of desperation to try to ensure a Russian victory.