ACCESSION OF SWEDEN, FINLAND TO NATO WILL HARM PEACE, STABILITY IN EUROPE: RUSSIA

Fri 15 April 2022:

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO will have negative consequences for peace and stability in northern Europe.

In a statement, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Finland and Sweden’s international policy of military non-alignment served as a solid foundation in building mutually beneficial relations with Russia.

“It’s no secret that the territories of these countries have long been mastered by NATO, large-scale military exercises were held. Why the alliance needs this is understandable. The goal is to continue building up military potential and geographic expansion, to create another flank for threats to Russia. And it’s unclear why our Finnish and Swedish neighbors in the Baltic region need to turn into a new frontier of confrontation between the NATO bloc and Russia. The negative consequences for peace and stability in Northern Europe are obvious,” Zakharova said in a statement.

She stressed that the membership of these countries in NATO would not strengthen their national security.

“They will automatically find themselves on NATO’s front line. Moreover, NATO membership implies, in fact, the renunciation of part of the sovereignty in the development of decisions in the field of defense, and in foreign policy.

However, this trend has emerged long before the current situation, when the EU member states, including its non-bloc countries, gradually turned into an instrument dutifully following the destructive attitudes of the United States and NATO,” Zakharova added.

Sweden and Finland need to understand the consequences of possible NATO membership for bilateral relations with Russia, as well as how it will affect the European security system, she said.

“Naturally, the choice is up to the authorities of Sweden and Finland. But they must also understand the consequences of such a step for our bilateral relations and the European security architecture in general, which is now in a crisis,” the statement says.

Potential NATO membership is unlikely to help strengthen the international prestige of Sweden and Finland, Zakharova noted.

“Potential membership in NATO is unlikely to help strengthen the international prestige of Sweden and Finland, which in their history were the conductors of many constructive, unifying initiatives. With the entry into the alliance, Stockholm and Helsinki will lose this opportunity,” she said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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