With its invasion of Ukraine, Russia resurrected NATO, an organization that was “brain dead,” Macron said in 2019. It also dashed Russian dreams of turning Ukraine into a buffer state. Miguel Ángel Benedicto, professor of International Relations at the Complutense University of Madrid, and Jesús Manuel Pérez Triana, security and defense analyst, spoke with RFI about the implications of Finland’s accession to NATO
Text: asbel lopez
As of this Tuesday, Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO. Its entry into the Alliance, accelerated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has been in record time. The first consequence is the extension of Russia’s NATO border, which is doubled, since there will be 1,300 kilometers of direct border with that country.
One of Putin’s goals has been to weaken NATO. But with the accession of Finland, and probably Sweden soon, Putin has achieved the opposite effect. “Putin has backfired with the invasion of Ukraine,” says Miguel Ángel Benedicto.
*Read also: Russia to open several military bases after Finland and Sweden attempt to join NATO
This professor of International Relations recalls that in November 2019 French President Emmanuel Macron said that NATO “suffered from brain death.” However, Putin has managed to resurrect it and position it as a security and defense organization, but also as a political organization. «NATO is getting stronger; All the members are protected in it, including the last one, Finland, which has just joined, but also those who will join, like Sweden, in a few months», he notes.
#Finland became NATO’s 31st member on Tuesday. The Russian invasion of #Ukraine has been the trigger for which this country, which shares a border with #Russia, decided to apply for membership in the organization. ?AP pic.twitter.com/mrnajm4bPk
— RFI in Spanish (@RFI_Es) April 4, 2023
Thus, the Russian dreams of turning Ukraine into a stopper-state collapse, says Jesús Manuel Pérez Triana. According to this defense analyst, the war in Ukraine was intended to move away from NATO’s borders by controlling Ukraine. But what has happened is that another front of 1,340 kilometers of shared borders with Finland has been opened to Russia, which will be, as of today, the border with NATO. In addition, the Baltic, which was a sea where there were two neutral countries, Switzerland and Finland, now becomes NATO allies, except for the Russian coast around Saint Petersburg and the Kaliningrad enclave. The entire coast of the Baltic Sea is going to become NATO countries. «The Baltic Sea becomes, in practice, a NATO lake. This is another unintended and negative consequence for Russia. It is a huge problem for Russia, “concludes Pérez Triana.
*Read also: NATO Summit officially invites Sweden and Finland to join the alliance
Regarding the future of NATO, the professor at the Complutense University of Madrid Miguel Ángel Benedicto recalls that NATO not only plays a very important military role, but also a political one. The Alliance is also an organization to solve problems through negotiation and diplomacy, he says. “It is also an organization where democracies are supposed to be whose purpose is to defend a common value system against absolutely violent and illegal aggressions like the one launched by Russia against Ukraine at the beginning of 2022,” he maintains.
With Finland joining NATO, that country will be more secure. The Finns, who are very suspicious of Russia, a country with which they have had armed conflicts in the past, feel much safer. This analyst stresses, however, that this is somewhat to the detriment of the European Union, because, although Finland was already part of the Europe of defense, it is still in its infancy, and for this reason they trust NATO more.
Post Views: 44
