Explained: Why Finland wants to join NATO and why Russia has objections to it

Finland, a neighbouring country of Russia that shares a 1,340 km border with it, has been contemplating shedding its neutrality and joining NATO, a move that Russia has vocally despised. In the light of the ongoing armed assault on Ukraine by Russia, Finland has been mulling reviewing its security policy to decide whether to join NATO. According to a report by Al Jazeera, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday that discussions on possible NATO membership should take place at several levels with a view to establishing a national consensus. Also read: The making of war: The complicated history of Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Germany explained Responding to the conversations of Finland mulling to join NATO has Russia upset, as Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced that if Sweden and Finland were to become members of NATO, the move “would have serious military and political consequences”. What is NATO, why Russia has issues if its neighbours join the group, let’s examine: What is NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization {NATO} is an intergovernmental military alliance that was established in the aftermath of World War II. Currently, it has 28 European and two North American countries as its members. The alliance is headquartered in Belgium. Belgium, Canada, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States founded the organisation in 1949. North Macedonia is its latest member, it joined in 2020. According to the official website of NATO, it is “an alliance of countries from Europe and North America. It provides a unique link between these two continents, enabling them to consult and cooperate in the field of defence and security, and conduct multinational crisis-management operations together”. As a “political and military alliance”, NATO’s purpose is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. With an aim to prevent conflict, NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems and build trust. Even though it aims to resolve disputes through peaceful negotiations, it can also undertake military actions under the collective defence clause of NATO’s founding treaty. NAO considers an attack on one or several of its members as an attack against all. “This is the principle of collective defence, which is enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty,” it said. So far, Article 5 has been invoked once - in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. Why does Finland want to join NATO The Finnish president told reporters, as quoted by Al Jazeera, “When alternatives and risks have been analysed, then it’s time for conclusions,” referring to the possibility of Finland joining the defence alliance. “We have safe solutions also for our future. We must review them carefully. Not with delay, but carefully,” he said. According to the report, a recent poll by public broadcaster Yle found 53 per cent of Finns now support joining NATO, a dramatic rise from merely 19 per cent five years ago. And a citizens’ petition on holding a referendum on Finland’s NATO bid gathered the 50,000 signatures needed for parliament to debate it in less than a week. However, Finland’s interest in joining NATO also lies in its shared complicated history with Russia. The country has had an on and off relationship with Russia going back centuries. In the collective history of both the countries there have been wars and sufferings starting from 1808 when Russia took Finland from Sweden. Later Finland was allowed a special status under Russian Tsar Alexander II’s empire. It had its own currency and an almost free of interference administration, however, Finnish was not an official language till 1902. Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin granted Finland independence after the Russian Revolution in 1917. In November 1939, Lenin’s political protege Joseph Stalin attempted to invade Finland, which came to be known as the Winter War. As per a 1948 treaty with Moscow, Finland promised to join neither NATO, nor the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. Even though Finland moved closer to the West and joined the European Union in 1995, it remained cautious of its bigger neighbour, with which it shared diplomatic as well as trade ties. It is to be noted that one of the reasons behind Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the latter’s increasing association with NATO and the US. Russia has always wanted to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, threatening of consequences in the garb of its own national security interests. On 24 February, the day Russia launched a military operation on Ukraine, president Vladimir Putin accused the US and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and offer Moscow security guarantees, and credulously claimed that Russia doesn’t intend to occupy Ukraine but will move to “demilitarize” it and bring those who committed crimes to justice. Why is Russia objecting to Finland joining NATO Since the end of World War II and the signing of the treaty, both countries have remained militarily neutral. The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement, “All OSCE member states in their national capacity, including Finland and Sweden, have reaffirmed the principle that the security of one country cannot be built at the expense of the security of others.” The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe {OSCE} is the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organisation with an observer status at the United Nations. “Obviously, the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, which is primarily a military alliance as you well understand, would have serious military and political consequences, which would require our country to make response steps,” Zakharova had added. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.