Sweden and Finland set to join NATO in May

[Helsinkian]

Hey, the hypersonic things dont take 2 days to reach, but hey, up to them...

Seeing as some of the Russian troops in Ukraine are back to using Mosin-Nagants and Maxims, I'm not too worried.

[Helsinkian]

The British and Swedish PMs have formalised a mutual UK-Sweden defensive pact whilst on a trip to Harpsund, a clear attempt to deter the Russians from aggression during the application period. Swedish neutrality is already over - all that remains to be done is to submit a formal application in the coming weeks.

If there effectively is something like this, then i guess yeah, could do for Sweden, but then again, Finland has anything to deter anything yet...?

Johnson continued from Sweden to Finland and signed the same document with the Finnish President, a couple of hours ago.

https://twitter.com/Silvia_Amaro/status/1524427508497756160

"What it says is that in the event of a disaster, or in the event of an attack on either of us, then we will come to each other’s assistance, including with military assistance." --Boris Johnson
The Guardian

[Helsinkian]

Energy imports from Russia would have been ended soon anyways, so good riddance. Imports from Russia have been no more than 10 percent of Finland's energy usage in recent times.

[Helsinkian]

BTW, in Erdogan's comments regarding Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership, he complained about how Kurdish terrorists are being protected in Sweden and the Netherlands... So maybe that's an indication of how well-informed he is. I also remember that he once spoke about the "King of Finland" a few years ago...

[Helsinkian]

Finland’s Parliament has approved a proposal to apply for NATO membership.
188 votes in favour, 8 in opposition, 3 absent.

The 8 No votes were:

• 6 MPs from the Left Alliance (but even they were outnumbered by Yes votes in their party)
• 1 MP from the Finns Party (Mika Niikko, who had to resign as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee shortly before the invasion because he had suggested that the crisis would be solved by NATO announcing that Ukraine can't ever join it)
• Ano Turtiainen, the sole MP from Power Belongs to the People (Turtiainen, who was expelled from the Finns Party and then founded his own party, is not only anti-Nato but also pretty much openly pro-Putin)

Some have noted that 188–8 is very much unanimous compared to certain other important votes:

• In 1995, EU membership was ratified with 152–45
• In 1917, Finland's declaration of independence was ratified with 100–88 (in fairness, the Social Democrats, who voted against, were not against independence, but they were against a unilateral declaration)

[Helsinkian]

Another thought.  This entire affair with Turkey shows it might not be wise for NATO to bring Sweden and especially Finland into the alliance.  Just like Turkey is able to vote actions using its leverage of being in NATO, if and when Sweden and Finland join NATO they will also be given such powers and leverage as well.  This is especially true for Finland which will be at the frontline of any conflict with Russia.  This means that a Finland in NATO will veto actions that might provoke Russia over things Finland does not seem critical to Finland's national interests.  A larger NATO does not necessarily mean a stronger NATO is you are increasing the diversity of interests within the alliance.  This is one of many examples to show that diversity is not a strength.

That would surprise me. Our politicians don't really believe in vetos. They never veto anything in the EU, not even decisions that are deleterious to Finnish industry and taxpayers. That's because they believe that a reputation as a trustworthy partner is worth more in the long run.

Nowadays would be more to get protection 'just' from Putin, and Putin is not interested in the World, but mostly in the Russian Empire and in putting the most possible dust in the US/Western mouths

Then, logical enough that Turkey, which is not really in Putin primary targets can feel free to mess within NATO, to even play with whatever efficiency it could have, to buy some Russian weapons, to do whatever to prove its own Turkophone/Islamist Empire itself, and when u see what Turkey now does in Africa, they really try hard to extend

If we're talking about the Russian Empire, remember that taking Constantinople was the Russian Emperors' biggest dream from Catherine the Great onwards...

The Finnish Foreign Minister:

He's the Defence Minister.

[Helsinkian]

There are wildly differing views on what the recent memorandum signed in Madrid between Turkey and Finland/Sweden means. The Turks are bragging that they forced Finland/Sweden into their demands. While at least in Finland commentators are saying that the memorandum does not mean that Finland would change its laws or extradite anyone to Turkey.

Some details on the "terrorists" that Turkey wants Finland to extradite:

• One made jokes about Erdogan on social media.
• One is wanted for downloading an encrypted app often used by Kurdish groups, even as it is unknown what he did with it.
• A few people are wanted for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Turkish embassy in Helsinki years ago. But they were already convicted for that in Finnish courts and completed their sentence. But Turkey wants to put them on trial for the second time for the same crime.

Turkey still wants these people extradited, and has similar demands from Sweden. So despite the memorandum, they might still delay ratification.