Since the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war, thousands of Finns have joined civilian training associations to improve military skills and learn first aid. The Vantaa branch of the Finnish Reservist Association currently has 1,345 members, with more than a quarter of them joining in recent weeks.
“The government says we don’t have to be afraid, but we know very well that they’re just talking. If the Russians want to build a ‘great Russia’ with the Sea of Japan in the east and Lisbon in the west, where else can they go?” Andy Ketuning said.
At the same time, Finland’s northern neighbor Sweden is also worried, and there is growing concern that Russia will cross the border. As early as late March, Sweden joined Finland to conduct military exercises on the territory of NATO’s “old” Norway.
Although both Finland and Sweden are “permanently neutral countries”, as the situation in Russia and Ukraine deteriorates, they seem to intend to break their neutrality and turn to NATO. In the face of NATO’s expansion, Russia, which has always been tough, has also begun to issue frequent warnings.
At the end of January, when Russian troops assembled on the Ukrainian border and conducted frequent military exercises, the international consensus was that Russia would not send troops. At the time, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said it was “unlikely” that Finland would apply for NATO membership.
But when Russia announced that it would send troops to Ukraine, her attitude took a 180-degree turn, and she publicly defended her previous rhetoric, “Russia is not an ideal neighbor.” Finland has no intention of joining NATO for many years, but now many Finns realize that, They were faced with a choice that burned their eyebrows.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin (Sanna Marin) on the 13th and Swedish Prime Minister at a press conference stated that it will be decided within a few weeks whether to apply to join NATO.Image: Taken from Facebook
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia and has been at war with Russia over the past century, which is why Finland is one of the few European countries with mandatory military service.
Even though Finland participated in two wars against the Soviet Union during World War II, the country remained neutral during the Cold War and has since stood in the middle ground between the West and Russia. However, the Russian-Ukrainian war has upset a delicate balance that has been carefully maintained over the years.
“Unlike most European countries, after the end of the Cold War, we never let our guard down,” said Jann Koussera, head of defense policy at the Finnish Ministry of Defense. “We are fully capable of protecting ourselves if necessary.”
With a population of 5.5 million in Finland, 900,000 people have received military training, and 280,000 people are currently undergoing reservist training. Many Finns are preparing for a possible war.
The 45,000-member Finnish Reservist Association has recruited 6,300 new members in recent months, almost double the number between 2015 and 2021. The Defence Training Association, which is supervised by the Finnish Ministry of Defense and which works closely with the military, has also been rewarded recently, with an eight-fold increase in the number of people participating in its training courses and a far greater number of enrolments than usual.
The cadets said they were shocked by Russia’s behavior, they wanted to ensure their military capabilities, they wanted to learn new things, and they wanted to make up for the mistake of not doing military service seriously in the first place. “They want to prepare for the worst,” said Osi Chitara, an instructor at the Finnish Defence Training Association.
Neighboring Sweden has undergone similar changes, with the ruling Social Democrats, which have been opposed to joining NATO, revealing they are reconsidering their position.
Sweden announced that it will break a practice of not sending weapons to war-torn countries and send military equipment such as anti-tank launchers to Ukraine.Photo: Flip from Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s Facebook
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, chair of the Social Democratic Party, said in a statement on the 11th: “When Russia launched its military operations in Ukraine, Sweden’s security position changed fundamentally.”
Two days later, the Swedish daily reported that the Swedish government planned to submit an application to join NATO at a summit in Madrid at the end of June. The report came on the same day that Finnish Prime Minister Marin and Andersson met in Stockholm to discuss regional security issues under the Russian-Ukrainian war. After the meeting, Marin confirmed to the media that Finland will decide in the next few weeks whether to apply for NATO membership.
Faced with the changing attitudes of Finland and Sweden, Russia has made it clear that they oppose the expansion of the NATO alliance. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that NATO is not an organization committed to ensuring peace and stability and that its further expansion will not make the European continent more stable.
In early April, Peskov said publicly that if Sweden and Finland joined NATO, Russia would have to “rebalance the situation” through its own measures.
In February this year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also warned that if the two countries join NATO, there will undoubtedly be political and military implications. In Finland and Sweden, however, public willingness to join NATO is growing, with polls showing that while Finnish and Swedish citizens were previously skeptical about joining NATO, about 60 percent of Finns and about 50 percent of Swedes now support it. .
The BBC reported that Robert Dalshev, an analyst for political and military affairs at the Swedish Defence Research Institute, believes that Finland has made up its mind to join NATO, and they are ready to cut through the mess. “We’re not talking about months, but weeks, and Sweden is trying to keep up with Finland.”
Dalshev analyzed that the reason for this change is that many Finns and Swedes see themselves in the mirror of Ukraine. They worry that Ukraine will be a lesson for them if they start a war with Russia. “Ukraine has been receiving all kinds of aid, but all NATO members are reluctant to go to war for a non-member state.”
European security expert and former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ivo Dalder, believes all NATO members will accept applications from Finland and Sweden. “It would be great if they could join NATO. Both countries have been NATO’s closest allies for many years, and they have attended almost all of NATO’s major meetings.”
The Ukrainian strategic port city of Mariupol was devastated after being attacked by Russian troops, and many civilians were killed.Photo: Dazhi Image/Associated Press
U.S. Defense Department officials have said publicly that Russia’s military operation against Ukraine was a “huge strategic blunder” that could lead to NATO expansion. The United States expects that the two NATO neighbors will submit applications as early as June this year, and Washington will provide support, and the number of NATO members will increase to 32 by then.
In the face of the crazy provocations of the United States and NATO, Dmitry Medvedev, vice chairman of the Russian Federation Security Council, responded on social media that Russia may have more enemies, but they will not sit idly by and let others be slaughtered.
He made a tough stance that Russia needs to strengthen the deployment of its army and air defense forces and expand its naval presence in the Gulf of Finland. Under these circumstances, the denuclearization of the Baltic Sea region is not negotiable.
While most feared that Finland and Sweden joining NATO would exacerbate conflict and divisions, former U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Dalder believes that NATO would benefit from expansion in exchange for the two countries receiving European Union asylum.
In late March, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised during talks with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Berlin that Sweden could count on other European countries to provide protection in the event of a Russian military campaign. Scholz pointed out that although Sweden is not a member of NATO, the EU has included mutual assistance clauses in the treaty, which will be highly valued if Russia takes action against Sweden.
Reassured, Finland and Sweden began to increase their stakes and increase defense spending. Finnish authorities announced on the 11th that they would allocate 14 million euros to the army to buy drones, a month after Swedish officials said they would increase their defense budget by 3 billion crowns in 2022.
Finland and Sweden, which intend to end their “neutral” status, are actively preparing for a military conflict with Russia with the support of NATO. The problem is that neither country is strong enough to bear the serious consequences of joining NATO, and it is unknown whether NATO members will actually support them.
Since the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war, thousands of Finns have joined civilian training associations to improve military skills and learn first aid. The Vantaa branch of the Finnish Reservist Association conducts night training. Currently, the Vantaa Reservist Association has 1,345 members, more than a quarter of whom have only joined in recent weeks.
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Finland and Sweden have increased their willingness to join NATO. (The picture shows the leaders of NATO countries) Picture: Dazhi Image/Archyde.com (file photo)