Finland says debate on NATO membership 'will change' after Russian invasion

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: The Hill

Finish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Thursday said Russia's invasion of Ukraine will change the debate around NATO membership within her country.

"Finland is not currently facing an immediate military threat, but it is also now clear that the debate on NATO membership in Finland will change," Marin said, YLE News reported.

Finland has been debating for months whether the country should apply for NATO membership, with Marin saying it would require broad support for the country to move forward with an application.

Finland and Sweden, who are both not officially members of NATO, will be at a summit the alliance will host Friday.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/finland-says-debate-nato-membership-160250185.html

[brooklynite]

1. So, Russia would be back to having a NATO member on its border.

[IronLionZion]

5. Norway, Latvia, and Estonia are full NATO members on Russia's border

[TomWilm]

8. ... plus Lithuania and Poland border Russias Kaliningrad enclave.

And if we add sea borders, also Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania and Turkey.

[IronLionZion]

11. And Russian troops are using Belarus, which borders those countries,

to invade Ukraine from the north

[TomWilm]

20. And from Sunday Belarus will invite Russia to stay permanently ...

... including their nuclear missiles, since a referendum will open fully up for that.

[Lonestarblue]

2. Maybe NATO should instantly admit Ukraine and tell Putin to stick that in his ear.

[marie999]

13. NATO won't admit Ukraine. Transparency International rates Ukraine 117 of countries in corruption.

[EndlessWire]

15. They are currently Number One in

Invasion Deaths.

Make them a Provisional Member and HELP THEM.

Russia will not stop with Ukraine. It is working so well for them that they will do it again.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

16. Just exactly how is it working so well for them?

NATO is united and will respond quite violently if any Russian forces cross into any NATO member country, NATO has made that crystal clear and NATO would crush the Russian Army, and Putin knows this, or at least the military leaders know this.

[EndlessWire]

18. They are

going to take over Ukraine. They are going to take over the Azov Sea. They have taken part of Georgia. All without anyone to stop them. They don't care about NATO. Or what the UN thinks (still the acting President there.) Their threat of nuclear war is all they need.

They own Belarus. Kaliningrad is part of Russia. That leaves Poland and the Baltics. They will go there next; maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, because it takes time to set up the false flag and work it. But, maybe they just say, eff it, and continue on when they get to the Polish border. After all, Belarus could take on Lithuania. It has enough troops to do that.

Your statement about NATO crushing Russia may or may not be true. We are SLOW to commit and slow to act. It will be interesting to see how Turkey acts if their interests are threatened by Russia. But, Russia can be sitting there in all that occupied territory, saying, "Make me leave," and all that fierce NATO resolve will vanish. They will instead resort to declarations and begging. Because, Putin will trot out his nukes and threaten the world with them.

I am in favor of diplomacy and sanctions. But, let's be honest, Putin isn't going to reverse ANYTHING. And, we have to keep our eyes on China and North Korea.

I am not a warmongerer. Just a realist. He can sit there and threaten Poland to get UN and NATO under his fist.

He's a liar, just like Hitler. And, he has made a deal with China. So, yeah, I think it is working well for him. The world doesn't want another WW, and that's the threat here. We will sacrifice whatever country he wants to occupy, because he will threaten everybody. This is brutal. But, he has the upper hand right now.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

19. ...

He's a liar, just like Hitler. And, he has made a deal with China. So, yeah, I think it is working well for him. The world doesn't want another WW, and that's the threat here. We will sacrifice whatever country he wants to occupy, because he will threaten everybody. This is brutal. But, he has the upper hand right now.

One word to you: BULLSHIT!!!!

[lark]

24. I don't think he will go into the other countries unless he wants full on war.

NATO will protect their own militarily, which is what Putin fears, so it's a big part of why he attacked Ukraine and not Norway. The nuke threat was just BS, pure right wing ego, just like when drumpf/cheney threatened that.

[Slammer]

17. NATO/Ukraine/Russia

At this point you wouldn't get even 1 out of 3 NATO countries vote in favor of admitting them because Russia is on their borders poised to invade. There's too many NATO countries who aren't looking to directly stare down Russia.

A defensive pact to prevent Russia from becoming aggressive is one thing. Actually getting into a war after Russia has already become aggressive is something completely different in their minds.

If Russia settles for taking only part of Ukraine then backs off, there could probably be a successful vote to admit them.

[Disaffected]

3. Change in what way exactly??

Encourage or discourage joining NATO?

[Straw Man]

23. Encourage.

Absolutely. I have relatives in Finland and other contacts in Finland. They're already talking about wanting to join NATO.

Finland was under Russian domination for more than 100 years. They gained independence after the Russian Revolution in 1917. Then they fought off a Soviet Russian invasion in 1939, but subsequently lost territory to them in 1941. They are not fond of Russia.

[Disaffected]

25. I expected that would be it but

I also suspect the opposite might be the case as Finland declaring it's desire to join NATO might result in the country getting "ukrained".

Other than that possibility, I wonder why Finland and Sweden for instance have not joined NATO already? Requirement for increased defense expenditures? Possibility of getting involved in a war of NATO decides to act? Desire for neutrality? All of those?

[Straw Man]

27. Finland did a delicate dance during the Cold War.

It was sometimes described as "bowing to the East without mooning the West." Their relations with the USSR were dictated by the peace agreement they signed with Stalin in 1948. Finland maintained its independence but lost some territory, had to pay reparations, and was subject to limitations on the size of its armed forces.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Finland has increasingly leaned toward the West, joining the EU in 1995.

[Disaffected]

28. Thanks

They are in a delicate situation alright.

[IronLionZion]

4. NATO expansion is exactly what Putin tried to stop

NATO didn't want to accept Ukraine because of the active conflict. It would be so ironic if they accepted several new members on Russia's border.

Norway was one of the first NATO members back in 1949 and they have a border with Russia up in the arctic.

[OilemFirchen]

6. I was wondering about this last night.

Finland is in a very precarious position. "Don't poke the bear" vs. "Who will save us?"

I think they'll take the risk and join NATO after this.

Meanwhile, Norway is still:

[TomWilm]

9. I have been there ...

... and did pee facing Russia every day. They really used their binoculars, because we also had a lot of naked girls swimming.

[OilemFirchen]

14. Showoff. (n/t)

[Cha]

22. lol

a little levity

[pecosbob]

7. Old school Russians consider Finland a part of Russia...just like Ukraine

Putin reiterated his view the other day that all those former possessions of Czarist Russia never should have been granted autonomy in 1917.

[ColinC]

10. I feel like the NATO countries in Europe should start to implement a draft.

Especially if we know Putin plans to go further than Ukraine.

[kiranon]

12. Am half Finnish and half Ukrainian - Finland needs to join NATO now

Finland already lost part of its eastern part to Russia. I hope it joins NATO now. Wish we had made Ukraine a provisional member of NATO and told Putin it will become final unless you do not invade. It is too late now to do that but maybe the Ukrainians can stop Russia from taking all of its country and that part can join NATO. Putin seems to believe he can be a communist * and an imperialist at the same time. Will be interesting to see what China does.
*Don't think he is a communist - just another dictator who let power to to his head.

[FakeNoose]

26. +1000

Pootie has no interest in going back to communism. He'd have to give up most of his political power and all of his wealth. It will never happen. BUT it's still to Finland's advantage to join NATO.

[Ameri Canadian]

21. The Russians attacked Finland in WWII

And it didn't go particularly well for the Hammer and Sickle. I'd love to see Finland in NATO!