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Special to WorldTribune.com
By John J. Metzler
Just a year ago, the political odds of comfortably neutral Sweden and Finland joining NATO were a long shot; Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine changed the military threat and jolted the political calculus.
At last week’s NATO Summit in Madrid, both countries were fast-tracked to full membership in the Atlantic Alliance. Signing ceremony in Madrid, June 28, 2022. From left, Pekka Haavisto of Finland, Mevlut Cavusoglu of Turkey, Sec. Gen. Jens Stoltenberg, Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Sauli Niinsisto of Finland, Magdalena Andersson and Ann Linde of Sweden. / NATO One of the tragic ironies of the Ukraine war has been Vladimir Putin’s aim to keep NATO member states away from the Russian border. Ukraine’s long-term intent to join NATO was seen as moving the frontier closer to Russia itself. From the Kremlin’s viewpoint this became an excuse and the principal trigger to the war which it started on Feb. 24th.
Now in a sweep of the cartographical pen, two major countries are joining the Atlantic Alliance. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said confidently, “If Vladimir Putin was hoping he would be getting less NATO on his western front as a result of his unprovoked, illegal invasion of Ukraine, he’s been proved completely wrong, he’s getting more NATO … we’ve already got two new members coming in, Finland and Sweden, a huge step forward for our alliance.”
Previously Russia only bordered two small and very vulnerable Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia. Now Russia’s frontier with Finland alone expands by 800 miles! Finland’s move has prompted the usual huffing and puffing in the Kremlin but with no specific retaliatory threats.
Finland has a particularity sensitive history regarding Russia having been a Grand Duchy since 1809; Finland would only gain its full independence in 1917. Yet in 1939, Stalin […]
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