“Confirms an aggressive course”: why Washington announced its support for any Finnish decision to join NATO

US President Joe Biden supports NATO's "open door" policy, including Finland's plans to apply to join the alliance.

This was stated by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki during a briefing.

Thus, she answered questions about the entry of the Finnish side into the bloc and whether the US president considers the further expansion of NATO an effective step to overcome the security challenges allegedly coming from Russia, or “a potentially provocative measure.”

“The President supports NATO's open door policy, supports those who seek to join, apply to join the alliance, and also (supports.

) NATO's role in making relevant decisions,” Psaki said.

She also said that the United States supports NATO's policy towards those "who are interested in the opportunity to join the alliance, who are striving for this and meeting the criteria for entry."

“And we definitely support any decision by Finnish leaders and other parties to file an appropriate application,” the White House spokeswoman emphasized.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon noted that in the light of the potential entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO in the future, Washington is ready to discuss the defense needs of the two countries in more depth.

Thus, US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby answered a question during a briefing about the possibility of providing security guarantees to these states.

“We interact regularly with both countries.

We have excellent defense partnerships with both Sweden and Finland.

And we are confident that if things go in this direction, then our close relationship at the level of the armed forces, perhaps, will allow us to move on to a more thorough discussion of their defense needs, ”Kirby said.

Meanwhile, US allies in NATO express divergent views on Finland and Sweden's entry into the bloc.

Thus, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he would support these two countries if they decide to become part of the alliance.

At the same time, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic threatened to veto Finnish and Swedish NATO membership.

"Won't bring additional security"

Recall that the intention of Finland and Sweden to join NATO this summer was reported by the British newspaper The Times on April 11, citing unnamed American officials.

As noted, the relevant application in June will be submitted first by Helsinki, and then a similar step will be taken by Stockholm.

The article also reports that the membership of these two states in NATO will expand the bloc's capabilities, primarily in the intelligence sphere and in terms of strengthening the air force.

As stated in the Kremlin on the same day, the further expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance "will not bring additional security to the European continent."

“We have repeatedly said that the alliance itself is rather a tool sharpened for confrontation, it is not an alliance that ensures peace and stability,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The following day, the Finnish publication Iltalehti published an interview with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who said she would discuss NATO membership schedules and processes with her Swedish counterpart Magdalena Andersson at a meeting in Stockholm on 13 April.

• Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin

• AP

• © Thanassis Stavrakis

After these talks, the press service of the Finnish government reported that Marin told Andersson about a security report assessing the consequences of a possible Finnish membership in the North Atlantic alliance.

On April 28, Marin announced that Finland would soon decide whether to apply for NATO membership.

According to her, the current close cooperation of the country with the bloc gives her an excellent opportunity to join, the press service of the Finnish government reports.

On the same day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the bloc would accept Finland and Sweden into its membership "with open arms" if they filed an appropriate application.

According to him, both countries are “very close partners” of NATO, whose armed forces “meet the standards” of the alliance.

On April 29, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on the air of the Finnish television channel MTV that her country had not yet made a decision on joining NATO.

According to her, the discussion of this issue in the Swedish Parliament is still ongoing.

Linde also said that preliminary work on joining the alliance will be completed by May 13.

According to the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö intends to announce his position on the country's membership in NATO no later than May 12.

At the same time, Marin plans to express his opinion on a similar issue on May 14, the newspaper writes.

According to Matti Vanhanen, speaker of the Finnish Parliament, this authority may agree on a decision to apply for Finland's accession to NATO as early as May 16th.

"Little will be gained"

According to Alexei Podberezkin, director of the MGIMO Center for Military-Political Studies, the White House, with its statements of support for “any” decisions made by Finland to join NATO, as well as “similar hints towards Sweden,” confirms the alliance’s aggressive course to expand and move closer to Russia’s borders.

“NATO is no longer a regional bloc, but a global military-political alliance that can intervene in the situation anywhere in the world,” the analyst said in a comment to RT.

According to Podberyozkin, the likely accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO will mean for Russia a significant increase in joint borders with the bloc.

“Especially sea routes are of great importance here.

The northern part of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic will be controlled by NATO.

If we recall the Second World War, then it was Finland that was able to close the Gulf of Finland.

If this coast becomes hostile to the Russian Federation, then it is almost impossible to talk about the withdrawal of the Russian fleet from the Gulf of Finland to the Baltic further, ”the expert noted.

• NATO Headquarters

• AFP

• © JOHN THYS

Podberyozkin added that the inclusion of Finland and Sweden in the alliance could have an extremely negative impact on the international security system.

“This will be a threat to world stability and will create additional tension between Russia and NATO,” he said.

According to political scientist Alexander Asafov, Washington and NATO, making such statements regarding the entry of Finland and Sweden into the bloc, are acting contrary to the proposals voiced by Russia on security guarantees.

“If you look from the point of view of promises of non-expansion of NATO to the east, then the current situation for the Russian Federation is very sensitive, and the alliance, as well as the United States, are aware of this.

But whether Finland and Sweden will join the bloc is still unclear.

If the countries nevertheless decide to submit their applications this month, then a verdict on them can be made already at the June NATO summit in Madrid.

However, Washington will play a leading role here, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

As noted, in turn, Podberezkin, the United States and NATO have long developed relations with Finland and Sweden, gradually "drawing these two countries into defense cooperation."

“In recent years, many agreements have been signed with the Finns and Swedes through the US and the alliance.

In particular, in early March, the bloc agreed with Helsinki and Stockholm to strengthen coordination and exchange of information.

All this was done so that the broad Western coalition went beyond the framework of NATO.

The Alliance will continue to act in the same vein, approaching the borders of the Russian Federation, ”the expert said.

At the same time, Podberezkin called the “big question” how great the desire of Sweden and Finland to get into the bloc.

“While these countries are not formally members of NATO, they do not have strict obligations to the bloc for joint defense cooperation and unification of weapons.

Sweden and Finland are quite independent and produce good weapons without outside help.

If they join the bloc, they will have to rely on NATO weapons.

And, of course, they will give up the advantages of their policy of neutrality, but they will gain little, ”the analyst believes.

In turn, as Asafov noted, in Sweden and Finland, the reaction of society to the initiatives to join the bloc shows that there is no unity on this issue.

“By joining NATO and starting to pose a threat to Russia's security, these countries will face extremely unpleasant consequences for themselves.

Moscow will respond to this measure.

And this will create more problems for Finland, since it is close to the Russian Federation, whose defense logic will be rebuilt based on a possible attack from a new member of the alliance, ”the expert said.

Podberyozkin also said that now "no one threatens Finland and Sweden", and therefore the expediency of their entry into the bloc is not obvious.

“The Finns and Swedes understand this very well.

There are influential forces there that will be against joining NATO,” the expert noted.

However, Podberezkin believes that it is rather difficult to predict the prospects for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

“There are various political forces in these countries.

But the main thing here is that for both states there will be much more minuses than pluses from joining the bloc.

Over the decades, quite working relations have developed between Russia and these states, and all this will be put on a completely different basis, ”concluded the analyst.