Finns, Swedes Weigh NATO Membership
HELSINKI — Heightened regional tensions, which have grown in the wake of the disputed legality of Crimea’s referendum to join the Russian Federation, have rekindled debate over whether non-aligned Sweden and Finland can protect their sovereignty outside of NATO.
Nordic NATO-aligned neighbors Denmark and Norway have long sought a High North defense solution that includes Finland and Sweden as permanent members of the alliance. This is regarded as the optimum pan-Nordic solution to establish a lasting, credible deterrent against threats to countries in the region.
The Kremlin has, in inter-governmental talks with Finland and Sweden since 2012, urged both countries to forgo NATO membership and join a Russia-led Eastern Alliance, a prospect that neither of the two Nordic states has shown any appetite for.
Against a backdrop of growing support for NATO membership in Sweden, opinion in Finland is slowly shifting toward what the country’s Council of State describes as a “collective defense solution.”............
Russian plans to reopen military bases, and relocate more than 150,000 personnel to facilities near the Finnish and Norwegian borders in coming months, are certain to accelerate the search by Finland and Sweden for long-term “collective defense” solutions............