Today Finland was ceremoniously accepted as the 31st member of the NATO defense alliance. The admissions process took less than a year. Finland decided to join after the start of the Ukraine war.
Russia and Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin are unlikely to like the fact that the neighboring country is now part of NATO. “From a Russian point of view, Finland has joined the enemy,” says Russia expert Ulrich Schmid to Nau.ch. After all, the Kremlin is saying that Russia is at war with NATO.
According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Finland’s admission is also a clear sign that Putin’s policy is failing. Putin went into the Ukraine war with the aim of having less of a NATO presence in Europe and preventing an expansion of the alliance. Now he has achieved exactly the opposite.
The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized that a neighbor joining NATO would severely damage Russian-Finnish relations. As early as May 2022, the Kremlin threatened an “appropriate military response”.
According to Schmid, however, Putin has few options. “Possibly he will order an increased submarine presence in the Baltic Sea,” says the expert from the University of St.Gallen.
NATO also considers it conceivable that Russia will react with cyber attacks against targets in Finland. Or the Kremlin could try to alarm the Finnish population with increased air force activity.
For NATO, the new member country means above all an extended duty of assistance. Should Finland be attacked by Russia, it would be seen as an attack on all NATO countries. Then every Allied would be asked to lend a helping hand.
According to Schmid, however, the enlargement has great advantages for NATO. “Finland is a welcome partner. By joining NATO, it is strengthening its eastern flank,” he explains.
At the same time, the alliance founded in 1949 will become larger and more powerful with the accession of Finland. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the northernmost EU country has well-equipped and trained armed forces. Finland is also currently investing in more than 60 state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jets.
The size of the Finnish armed forces is given by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) as 19,000 men and women. There are also around 238,000 reservists. To protect the land borders, Finland has, among other things, about 100 Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks and hundreds of artillery pieces.