NATO launches Arctic exercises pledges protection of Finland
May 30, 2023
The addition of Finland to the NATO bloc has doubled the length of the border the military alliance shares with Russia amid increasing tension between Moscow and the West following Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Its of no question at all. We have prepared plans on what to do if we are to be part of the defence of Finland, said Major General Karl Engelbrektson, commander of the Swedish land forces.
Sweden is Finlands closest military partner and it was Russias invasion of Ukraine that convinced Sweden and Finland last year to ditch long-held policies of military non-alignment and seek the security of NATOs collective defence commitment.
Finland formally joined NATO on April 4, drawing a threat from Moscow of counter-measures. Sweden hopes to be a NATO member by the time of the alliances summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in July.
Sweden has been what NATO describes as an official invitee since 2022, which allows attendance at meetings and the coordinating of activities with other NATO allies. Full membership will take place once all NATO allies have ratified Swedens accession application, the bloc has said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg voiced guarded optimism on Tuesday that Swedens accession by the July 11-12 NATO summit was within reach.
There are no guarantees but its absolutely possible to reach a solution and enable the decision on full membership for Sweden by then, Stoltenberg told reporters in Oslo on the eve of a NATO foreign ministers meeting to prepare for the summit.
Turkey ratified Finlands NATO membership but has yet to do so for Sweden.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Sweden has not yet met all of his countrys demands on securing his support for membership, particularly because of what he sees as Sweden providing safe haven to members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, both of which Ankara considers terrorists.
Ilmari Laukkanen, a 20-year-old Finnish conscript who operated a field gun in the exercise but in his civilian life works looking after a family farm near the Russian border, said he would be ready to fight for Finlands new allies if needs be.
Of course, I would. If we are given something good then we give in return, Laukkanen told the Reuters news agency.
Source
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 2:16 am