The news has made the Kremlin jump. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) could soon welcome two new members, Finland and Sweden, which are in the process of announcing their candidacy. “Being a member of NATO would strengthen the security of Finland,” said Thursday the Finnish executive, which had assured the day before that this application “would not be against anyone. Despite this, Russia has renewed its warnings, calling this possible membership in NATO an “assured” threat.
Indeed, both countries have expressed a desire to join the organization of military cooperation. A reversal that can be explained by the aggressive policy of Russia, and which would have major strategic consequences, according to Amélie Zima, researcher and specialist in NATO.
However, the perception of a threat posed by Russia is not the same in the two countries. Sweden does not have a border with Russia, while Finland does, for about 1,300 km. This explains in part why Finland says it is ready to be a candidate, while in Sweden the debate continues.
In the event of accession, these two countries would be covered by a common security guarantee, provided by Article 5 of the treaty. The latter specifies that any attack on one member may be considered an attack on all the member countries. In such a scenario, they could then request assistance from NATO member countries. In practice, Finland and Sweden would benefit from a nuclear umbrella, as there are three nuclear powers in NATO: the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
