Finland not yet in NATO, but already counting the rewards of joining the Alliance

Having received a formal invitation to join NATO, Finnish politicians have proposed locating a NATO base close to the Russian border

Helsinki’s plans were announced by Kimmo Järva, mayor of the border town of Lappeenranta in southern Karelia.

“I have heard that there are thoughts of an airport. It may well be used, if the Defence Forces so wish. I cannot say anything about deployment of the Defence Forces and military units; I am not an expert… NATO membership will not interfere with movement of ordinary people, if everything is in order,” Järva said.

The mayor expressed his confidence that unity with the alliance would bring hope to South Karelia and a sense of security and peace of mind to local businesses. In this way, according to local newspaper Yle, the Lappeenranta authorities intend to get as much benefit as possible from the country’s NATO membership.

In other words, in anticipation of huge investments and inflows of funds the Finns have already begun to share the pelt of the unkilled bear, hiding behind the talk of security.
Apparently, despite the panic and delusions in the press about Moscow’s aggressive plans, no one in Finland really believes that Russia is going to attack. Russia has enough problems of its own, so why should it need Finnish difficulties?

Meanwhile, the forthcoming NATO membership promises a lot of problems for the region, and with Russia’s response to the possible NATO base deployment near its borders and the consequent concentration of arms and forces, the Finnish population will get a fair dose of adrenaline. Moreover, the presence of the American contingent, whose behaviour is complained of in many countries where these “defenders” from across the ocean graze, will have to be tolerated. The euphoria of the NATO “shield” will soon evaporate and the calm and peaceful life in the Scandinavian expanses will come to an end, if it comes to the official part of the Marlezonian ballet.

Yes, Finland and Sweden have been invited, the Turks agreed to lift their veto last week and US President Joe Biden reported to Congress yesterday on the occasion. But the Western world still has much to forgive and give to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as he remains in a position to block the Finns and Swedes from joining the alliance again, and so far the Turkish parliament has not voted in the right direction. Erdogan has already warned that the agreement signed with Finland and Sweden to override Turkey’s veto of their NATO membership applications does not put an end to the matter, the Nordic states will still have to keep their promises.

So the process of placating Ankara is now in full swing. Talks have resumed about possible deliveries of US F-15 fighters, and eventually F-35 fighters, delivery of which was suspended because of the anti-Turkish sanctions imposed after the purchase of Russian S-400 SAM systems. In all likelihood, Turkish expansion in northern Syria will be turned a blind eye as well. It is no coincidence that Erdogan recently announced his confidence that Western countries will understand and support Ankara if it launches a military operation in Syria.

At the same time, the Scandinavians are finding it hard to overstep their pride and so-called democratic principles, especially when the Turkish leader announced that he had received guarantees from Stockholm on the extradition of 73 members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). As a result, as the Swedish publication SVT points out, such a statement came as “an unpleasant surprise” not only for Stockholm, but also for Helsinki, along with NATO. “In this way, he demonstrates that he is still the conductor, and it is he who decides when Sweden and Finland join NATO,” the journalists admitted.

And it really is. Erdogan is fuming, but no matter how much the Scandinavians show their noble indignation, the process of extraditing Swedish citizens has already begun. According to Erdogan, “3 or 4 of them have been expelled so far, but that is not enough,” and Turkish prisons are waiting for the rest. Obviously, in this situation Russia should not passively watch the bargaining between its arch-friend Erdogan and Western politicians. The Turkish president, as we have seen more than once, is ready to stab him in the back at any moment. It is therefore necessary to look for effective countervailing arguments to put pressure on Ankara, even with the Western blockade, when there is a certain reliance on open borders with Turkey and the ability to trade.

According to Semyon Baghdasarov, orientalist and expert on the Middle East and Central Asia, the support of the Syrian Kurds could be one such argument. All the more so since, unlike in European countries, the PKK is not banned in our country. And for a start, it would be a good idea to work on bringing Damascus and Kamishla, the centre where the Kurdish forces in Syria are located, closer together.

“And they will form some sort of coalition to fight back in the event of an invasion. And we need to demonstrably intensify contacts with this party. They have been coming to us, they are coming to us, as far as I know. But we are pretending that everything is very quiet. Maybe we should give this ‘quietly-quietly’ a boost! And to show them: stop it there, otherwise we too can deliver some weapons at the expense of convergence of Damascus and Qamishli,” SM-News quotes the expert, who recalls that the Kurds are short of surface-to-air missile systems in the form of MANPADS and modern anti-tank systems and still use the obsolete Soviet Malyutkas and Fagots.

Anna Ponomareva, Segodnya.ru

Finland not yet in NATO, but already counting the rewards of joining the Alliance