Finland today joins the NATO alliance after the last EU member, Turkey, voted for its admission into the defence treaty. The expansion of NATO has fundamentally altered the security scenario in the Nordic region and in Europe, moving the world closer to a protracted war. Unlike a neutral Switzerland, Finland has traditionally been militarily nonaligned and has all along stayed equidistant between the East and the West, despite being in the EU but not in NATO. The decision to join NATO was prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland and Russia have a long, interconnected history, as Finland was once a part of the Russian Empire until its independence in 1917.
Finland becomes the 31st country, joining Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States in the NATO defence alliance.
Finland shares a 1300-kilometre border with Russia. It has excellent seaports with the Gulf of Bothnia on its west, the Baltic Sea, and the Gulf of Finland on its south. Despite a long history of conflict between Russia and Finland, they have fairly stable relations. Finland is heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas, and Russia on Finnish timber and communication technology. Russia and Finland had a rough history when the former annexed three Finnish territories in Karelia. But sacrificing their territories to Russia is not a talking point with the Finns.
Though it is a tedious and lengthy process to get admitted into NATO, Finland’s application was fast-tracked between April 2022 and today. For the Finns, joining NATO means getting the required security from any eventual Russian advancement into their country. This could be the reason that, from the earlier 21% public support (2017) to join NATO, today 62% of Finns support joining the NATO alliance.
For the EU, Finland possesses the most formidable artillery, with 9,00,000 citizens in the reserve and regular soldiers strength at 2,80,000. The Finns won a winter war against Russia in 1939, which shows their forbearance to the harsh weather conditions. Finland, with its advanced ice-breaking technologies, will be a prized partner to play a key role in border surveillance and as a provider of maritime assets to the Arctic capabilities of the NATO alliance.
Russia has warned of severe retaliations against admitting its neighbours and now Finland into the western military alliance. It has demanded that NATO permanently ban Ukraine from becoming a member of NATO, as it would greatly upset security in the region. The Baltic region, which was a nuclear-free zone, will soon have deadly missiles installed, upsetting its stability.
Finland, now, would be protected by Article 5 of the 1949 NATO treaty, which pledges that an attack on a NATO member would insinuate an attack on the entirety of NATO. Russia has cut off gas and electricity supplies to Finland as an immediate punishment for its joining the NATO. The Russians might now deploy nuclear weapons or additional hypersonic missiles to the Kaliningrad exclave across the Baltic Sea.
Sadly, amid hawks baying for blood, peace possibilities have further shrunk.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
IN PIC: The author with the Finnish Ambassador to India.
