The tectonic shifts in the international order caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine continue to change the landscape of Euro-Atlantic security. Finland and Sweden are almost members of NATO, an organization they had resisted joining under the cover of a policy of neutrality that was blown up the day Russia attacked Kyiv.
The ambassadors of the 30q NATO member countries signed their accession protocols yesterday in Brussels, which now give them the right to participate in its meetings as guests. “It is a historic day,” its secretary general, the Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, celebrated at a press conference, accompanied by the foreign ministers of the Nordic countries. Its entry will add 1,340 kilometers to NATO’s land border with Russia, which is equivalent to doubling its current length, will add two modern armies to its forces and will strengthen the Alliance’s control over the Baltic Sea.
The decision, however, will only become effective when the parliaments of the 32 affected countries ratify it. Turkey reiterated yesterday that it will only give the green light for the entry of the Nordics when it verifies that “they comply with what it says” in the memorandum agreed a week ago in Madrid by which they promised to strengthen their anti-terrorist legislation and sign two extradition treaties. Hours after its signing, Ankara demanded from Stockholm the extradition of 73 suspected terrorists.
“We will honor that memorandum and apply it,” said Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, who insisted that the document was not linked to any list with names or numbers of extraditions. “There will be more cooperation” but everything will be done “in accordance with Swedish and international law”. None of the affected parties wanted to speculate on the possibility that some parliament would ratify the protocol of only one of the two countries. “We have gone hand in hand with Sweden throughout the process and we would like this to continue until the end. We have the same security situation, our cooperation is good, and NATO will benefit from us entering together,” Finnish Minister Pekka Haavisto said.
Tarja Halonen said that Finland – the country of which she was president at the beginning of the century – and Sweden were sister countries but not twins. Geography and history unites and differentiates them. Only Finland has a border with Russia and after World War II it was seen within the Soviet orbit. After twice confronting Moscow in the 20th century, she opted for an unwritten pact of neutrality to defend her independence. Sweden, on the other hand, chose non-alignment 200 years ago after a highly bellicose past with its neighbors and has never been embroiled in war again. Their respective neutrality policies have been more porous than is now admitted but in the opposite direction: if Helsinki opted for pragmatism towards Moscow in the cold war, in the case of Stockholm, the winks, behind the scenes, were to the US .and NATO.
A few weeks of war were enough to turn around a public opinion that had been convinced for decades that it was not convenient for them to move, although the annexation of Crimea was already a serious wake-up call that led both countries to strengthen their ties with the Alliance , increase defense spending and restore compulsory military service in the case of Sweden. When the invasion of Ukraine made the Finns feel that they could be the next victims of Kremlin imperialism and Helsinki announced its desire to join NATO, his Swedish brother, twin or not, was not far behind and followed in his footsteps.
On May 18, the foreign ministers of both countries appeared at NATO and formally requested admission to the organization, clarifying that they will not accept the installation of permanent bases or nuclear weapons on their territory, as in their day. They did for example Norway and Denmark. Until now it has been an express accession process. In seven weeks, after a technical negotiation resolved on Monday in a few hours due to the political and military closeness of the affected parties, NATO has opened the door for them. According to Stoltenberg, it is “a matter of months” before they are received as two more partners.
