Russia threatens to put nuclear weapons in the Baltic if Finland and Sweden join NATO

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Russia

has warned

that if

and

join the military alliance,

will have to strengthen its defenses.

Moscow warns that then one could no longer speak of a

"nuclear-free"

The irruption of the Russian army in

to supposedly prevent it from joining NATO has pushed two 'neutral' neighbors to the gates of the

:

and

are preparing to apply for membership this year.

does

not like the idea.

"There can be no more talk of a nuclear-weapon-free state for the

's Security Council

.

"Until today,

has not taken such measures and we were not going to do it," former Prime Minister

said .

But

already has nuclear weapons in the Baltic region, as Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas denounced shortly after.

Anusauskas told Lithuania's BNS agency that nuclear weapons were deployed in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad in the

already before the current crisis.

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, on the shores of the Baltic Sea, is sandwiched between two NATO members, Lithuania and Poland.

"These current Russian threats seem quite strange, when we know that they have this weaponry 100 km from the Lithuanian border," the minister was quoted as saying on Thursday.

"Nuclear weapons have always been in Kaliningrad... the international community, the countries in the region, are perfectly aware of this... [The Russians] use it as a threat," Anusauskas added.

Finland shares a 1,300 kilometer border with

.

His prime minister, Sanna Marin, says she will announce the

decision "in a few weeks."

and

began to talk about the possibility of abandoning their long-term neutrality and joining the bloc before the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

And even then

warned these two Nordic countries of "serious political and military consequences" and also "retaliation" if they joined

.

Now Moscow also explicitly poses the nuclear threat.

"If they force us, well... take note that it was not us who proposed this,"

added .

Today most Finns support the idea of ​​income.

In

support has also grown, although a 'yes' victory is more disputed.

Both countries have been non-aligned since

despite having relatively small armies.

Helsinki has relied on its own military deterrence and friendly relations with

to maintain its integrity with a country it fought with in the 20th century.

Sweden has not fought a war for 200 years.

Now both countries are considering whether it is better to join

, the 'enemy' of their more complicated neighbor.

NATO

would place them under the umbrella of Article 5, which guarantees that an attack against a

is an attack against everyone.

Finland

and

went from pure neutrality to simply 'non-aligned' militarily in 1995 when they joined the European Union.

Both have become closer to NATO in recent years: they share information from intelligence services and carry out joint exercises.

Chastened by

's incursion into

, the government of Finland has updated its foreign and security policy plan.

Sweden's government is also reviewing a broad security policy with a report due before the end of May.

Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson does not want to rush but is in close contact with her Finnish colleague.

The Swedish case is more complicated: they have general elections in September, and NATO membership will be a central issue.

The Social Democrats, who are now in government, are still plucking the daisy in an internal debate about whether to abandon their historic rejection of NATO.

They are expected to clarify their position in May.

The speed and determination with which Finland advances will weigh heavily on the Swedish case.

NATO is holding a summit in Madrid in June that could be key to the future of Scandinavia.

Meanwhile, Finland assumes that it needs to prepare for changes on the border with Russia.

NATO membership would increase Finland's defense budget by between 1% and 1.5%, according to government calculations.

The government in Helsinki recognizes that if it joins NATO it will have to prepare for rising tensions on the border with Russia.

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