We keep hearing about the protracted saga of Finland and Sweden’s membership blockade in NATO by one of the most devious nations in the world, Turkey. However, as Helsinki keeps hitting a dead end owing to Erdogan’s unreasonable demands, an exhausted Sanna Marin has said “enough is enough”. Finland has insinuated that it wants to withdraw from one of the West’s most disastrous missions aimed at wiping Russia off the map.
Finland’s warning
According to an alleged senior alliance source who spoke to The Wall Street Journal on February 09, Finland does not want to immediately supply tanks to Ukraine until it becomes a full member of NATO. Finland currently has approximately 240 heavy tanks on hand, so even after joining the alliance, it will only be able to transfer a tiny number of them. The WSJ reports that Turkey is presently delaying Finland’s admission to NATO.
According to Mikko Savola, Minister of Defense, Finland’s contribution to the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine would be minimal. The supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine was confirmed by Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on January 24th. However, Niinistö said it would be preferable for Finland to act in collaboration with other European countries.
The entire diplomatic mayhem regarding Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership originated from one member of the military bloc, Turkey. Turkey’s veto power over membership in the military alliance has dashed Sweden and Finland’s prospects of quickly joining NATO. Last June, in Madrid, Ankara, Stockholm, and Helsinki came to a decision on how to proceed. However, according to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Sweden, in particular, is not upholding its end of the bargain. Erdogan put off the accession negotiations indefinitely last month.
Out of the 30 members of NATO, only Turkey and Hungary’s parliaments have yet to approve Sweden and Finland’s entrance into the alliance. This is due to their concerns for their security following Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. According to Turkey, Sweden, in particular, is home to what it claims are PKK terrorists who started fighting the Turkish government in 1984. The PKK is a banned organization.
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During the Madrid talks, Finland and Sweden agreed to further efforts to combat terrorism, including stepping up efforts to extradite and deport suspected terrorists. However, some expulsions have been halted by Swedish courts.
Protests in Stockholm, which are protected by Sweden’s free speech laws are viewed by Ankara are hate crimes, and have exacerbated tensions between Sweden and Turkey. According to Paul Levin, Director of the Institute for Turkish Studies at Stockholm University, “Sweden has addressed many of Turkey’s concerns and will continue to implement this trilateral memorandum but it is clear right now that’s not enough.”
Changing loyalties and obeying the EU’s authoritarian command
As Finland watched closely that Turkey is firm in its position of turning down the request of Sweden for NATO’s accession, it decided to leave Stockholm behind and instead prioritize its own diplomatic and political interests. In fact, Foreign Minister, Pekka Haavisto, warned that if Turkey persists in blocking their application, Finland will join NATO without its neighbor and partner Sweden.
This marks a departure from Finland’s past stance. Prime Minister Sanna Marin previously stated that Finland is not facing opposition from Turkey regarding NATO membership. However, on February 8, the Finnish government declared that Finland would not join NATO without Sweden.
Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, who met with his Swedish counterpart, stated that Finland intends to join NATO alongside Sweden before the Vilnius conference in July and referred to any alternative choices as “speculative”. Finish President Sauli Niinisto echoed this stance during a press conference with Canada’s Governor-General Mary Simon in Helsinki.
Now, in these unforeseeable circumstances of fluctuating stances of Finland regarding its joint application with Sweden for NATO’s membership, the military bloc also tried to push Finland and Sweden to fight against Russia by arming its arch nemesis, Ukraine. Apparently, Helsinki and Stockholm fell into the nefarious agenda of the West, with Finland supplying guns and ammunition to Kyiv in February 2022, according to Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen stated that the shipment also contained 70,000 food packages, 1,500 anti-tank weapons, 150,000 rounds, and 2,500 assault rifles.
Similarly in January this year, Finland stated that it would give Ukraine new military hardware costing more than 400 million euros ($434 million). The new gift would increase Finland’s defence assistance to Ukraine by three times its current level, which is 590 million euros, according to a statement from the defence ministry.
Following the path of its neighbor, Sweden too obeyed the draconian commands of NATO. In November, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced that Stockholm would give Ukraine fresh military assistance worth 3 billion crowns ($287 million), its largest shipment of defence equipment to date, which included an air defence system. Previous Swedish armament contributions have included items ranging from helmets and body armor to rocket-propelled grenades and missiles.
Finland comes out of NATO’s hegemony
However, TFI Global explained that earlier the European Union took revenge from Finland, which gained massively because of the EU’s sanctions on Russia. Helsinki was able to increase its revenue from high oil prices which surged from 2.8 to 5 billion euros last year. As Finland didn’t give any concession or respite to the EU, the EU made one of its arbitration bodies, which settles contract disputes in the international arena, rule in favor of Russian company, Rosatom Overseas, in the dispute against Finland’s Fennovoima firm. The representatives rejected the Finnish side’s arguments.
Therefore, Finland is now taking revenge on the EU by announcing that it will not send any military assistance to Ukraine. Helsinki realizes that since Brussels didn’t come to its rescue in its legal dispute with Russia, so why should it extend any help to NATO’s ally, Ukraine?
Furthermore, Finland is aware of the untrustworthy tendency and vicious agenda of the EU and trusts Sweden more. While there have been rifts and disputes between Helsinki and Stockholm, Finland’s foreign policy towards Sweden is guided by the fact that a known devil is better than an unknown devil. In this case, the unknown devil is NATO and the known devil is Sweden.
Apart from seeing through the clandestine intentions of the EU and NATO, Finland, Sweden, and other Scandinavian countries also share a regional identity, and there are several cultural and social similarities between Russian and Scandinavian states.
Read more: Finally, Sweden and Finland have opted against joining NATO
Therefore, Finland has realized that the EU and NATO only want to exploit it to further their agenda and support their cowardly authoritative leader, Zelensky, in his already failing mission to destroy the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia. By confirming that it will not supply any weapons to Ukraine, Helsinki has made it clear that, unlike other European countries, it is not going to let itself get destroyed by the whims and wishes of Biden, Macron, and Leyen.
