Finland är nu medlem i Nato!

Finland has one of the largest wartime strengths in NATO with 280,000 troops, and around 900,000 people out of a total population of 5.5 million have had military training. In historical terms, Finland has a fighter per capita ratio equivalent to ancient Sparta.'
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What will year two in NATO look like for Finland? As a new member, Finland has been extraordinarily forward leaning and is quickly assimilating itself into Alliance structures, customs and formats. Finland has dramatically increased its knowledge on nuclear deterrence in a remarkably short timespan. The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year, will remain a grave security threat for NATO and Finland.

When Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022, Russia first tried to downplay the significance. Nonetheless, after the northern European country formally entered the transatlantic alliance in April 2023, Moscow’s tone became increasingly aggressive, and it has engaged in certain actions intended to create problems for Finland.

“Russia tries to destabilise Finland by facilitating or at least allowing more illegal migration,” explained Wolfgang Pusztai, a senior adviser at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy. “There is even information that Russian border authorities are actively assisting migrants without proper documents in reaching the border zone. Finnish officials consider this as a form of payback for Finland’s NATO accession,” he added.

Finland has a small Russian minority of 100,000 who are mostly living in the south and southeast near the Finnish-Russian border, which is currently closed. However, Pusztai said that this minority is “not very receptive to Russian propaganda” and ultimately “Putin’s means to make life difficult for Finland – short of a military escalation – are limited.”

Moscow and Helsinki would never go back to the previous format of cooperation, with Finland being member of the aggressive military bloc of NATO, Russian Ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov said in an interview with TASS.
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Kuznetsov added that the Finnish authorities have obviously joined the Western party of war against Russia.

"As regards the situation around Ukraine, Finland has clearly joined `the party of war against Russia until they win’ here," the diplomat said.

Kuznetsov pointed to official statements by the Finnish leadership as well as "the amount of military aid to Kiev" to substantiate his position. Also, Finland is among "top ten sponsors of the Ukrainian authorities per capita," he said.

Playing to newly minted NATO member Finland’s desire for revenge, the West is facilitating its turn against Russia, Russian Security Council First Deputy Secretary Rashid Nurgaliyev said in his article published on the council’s website.

He reiterated that Helsinki, "looking for revenge, is joining anti-Russian alliances," while Western propaganda is "spinning the Finnish sense of superiority over Slavs, at the same time trying to revive the idea of a 'Greater Finland'."

"Washington, 'under NATO’s umbrella,' has turned Finland into a dependent semi-vassal and is trying to make another anti-Russia out of it yet again, forcing it to sacrifice its own well-being for the sake of alien geopolitical goals," Nurgaliyev pointed out.

Riksdagen har nu slutligen godkänt det historiska avtalet om försvarssamarbete med USA.

Riksdagen var enig då det var dags att klubba igenom DCA-avtalet, som redan tidigare behandlats av regeringen.

Vänsterförbundets Anna Kontula gjorde ett förslag om att förkasta avtalet, men förslaget fick inget stöd.

The Finnish Parliament unanimously approved the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between Finland and the United States on Monday.

Under the agreement, Finland will open 15 of its military bases for potential use by US forces and will also allow the US to bring defence equipment, supplies, materials, and soldiers to Finland.

In addition, the agreement will see the creation of certain military zones, which will include facilities to which only US personnel will have access.