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NATO formally invites Finland and Sweden to become members, moving closer ending their historic neutrality and defying Putin

Hamartia Antidote

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NATO's secretary general along with the leaders and foreign ministers of Turkey, Finland, and Sweden in Madrid, Spain, on June 28, 2022.

NATO's secretary general along with the leaders and foreign ministers of Turkey, Finland, and Sweden in Madrid, Spain, on June 28, 2022.AP Photo/Bernat Armangu

NATO has formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the military bloc, in a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

NATO said in a Wednesday statement: "Today, we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO, and agreed to sign the Accession Protocols."

The two countries made significant progress in joining the western military alliance on Tuesday, as Turkey dropped its objections to their membership and NATO announced that the three countries signed an agreement to let the membership process proceed.


But there are more steps that need to happen before they can be members. Indeed, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the agreement one "that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO."

Countries that seek to join NATO are typically invited to start talks with the bloc about any reforms they need to make, and they are then invited to join the "Membership Action Plan," which NATO describes as "a programme which helps nations prepare for possible future membership."

The parliaments of all of NATO's current members then need to approve the countries' joining.

Stoltenberg on Tuesday said he was "absolutely confident" the two nations would become members.

Stoltenberg has also previously offered to try and speed up their membership efforts, which means some of the steps that countries normally go through may be hurried.

It is not clear if, for example, recent talks between NATO and the two nations about their joining may cover the necessary pre-membership talks NATO normally has with candidate countries.

Tuesday's agreement was a major step in the membership efforts of Sweden and Finland.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Pekka Haavistod, and Ann Linde — the foreign ministers of Turkey, Finland and Sweden respectively — signed the agreement on Tuesday.

Two countries need the unanimous support of all of NATO's current members to be able to join the alliance.

Turkey had held out on supporting their membership, accusing the countries of supporting Kurdish militias.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a statement: "Turkey has made significant gains in the fight against terrorist organisations" and that "Turkey got what it wanted" by the signing of the joint security pact on Tuesday.

NATO's secretary general said that both Sweden and Finland agreed to drop their restrictions on selling Turkey weapons and that Sweden agreed to increase work to extradite suspected militants to Turkey.

Sweden and Finland moved away from decades of neutrality to pursue NATO membership after Russia invaded Ukraine. They both first applied to join in May.

The possible growth and apparent strengthening of NATO is the opposite of what Putin wanted.

He has tried to justify his invasion of Ukraine by arguing that he was reacting to the possibility of NATO expanding eastwards, but instead he has prompted attempts at such an expansion.
 
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Nothing material changes with them joining the gang. Russia was not going to invade and if it had, Americans and Europeans would have come to help a lot harder than they are doing for Ukraine.
 
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A big win of NATO and U.S. indeed.
And Turkey?

Perhaps a good time for Turkey to ditch (in some kind of accommodation involving storage) the S-400s and get back in the F-35 program, for the sake of interoperability in the NATO alliance?

 
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Nothing material changes with them joining the gang. Russia was not going to invade and if it had, Americans and Europeans would have come to help a lot harder than they are doing for Ukraine.

The problem is not Russia invading them - the problem is NATO will massively build-up Military in these countries resulting in Russia building Military might near Finland and Sweden. THIS IS A REALLY BAD OUTCOME FOR THESE COUNTRIES AND THE WORLD !! UNFORTUNATELY, ANOTHER NORTH KOREA IN THE MAKING HERE !!
 
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And Turkey?

Perhaps a good time for Turkey to ditch (in some kind of accommodation involving storage) the S-400s and get back in the F-35 program, for the sake of interoperability in the NATO alliance?

No. I don't think so. F-35 is gone.

U.S. now has Ukraine to hedge/consume Russia. Turkey is not as strategic as it was during the Cold War. While Russia is not as powerful as Soviet which is obvious.

In short, U.S. doesn't need Turkey as much as it was. And Turkey wants to kick Kurds a$$ which is not in U.S. interest.

Turkey will keep getting weapons to some extent from the West, but F-35 is only a bait in the foreseeable future.

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The problem is not Russia invading them - the problem is NATO will massively build-up Military in these countries resulting in Russia building Military might near Finland and Sweden. THIS IS A REALLY BAD OUTCOME FOR THESE COUNTRIES AND THE WORLD !! UNFORTUNATELY, ANOTHER NORTH KOREA IN THE MAKING HERE !!
Those countries are sandwiched, they don't have a choice.
 
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No. I don't think so. F-35 is gone.

U.S. now has Ukraine to hedge/consume Russia. Turkey is not as strategic as it was during the Cold War. While Russia is not as powerful as Soviet which is obvious.

In short, U.S. doesn't need Turkey as much as it was. And Turkey wants to kick Kurds a$$ which is not in U.S. interest.

Turkey will keep getting weapons to some extent from the West, but F-35 is only a bait in the foreseeable future.

View attachment 857943


Those countries are sandwiched, they don't have a choice.

There were successfully Neutral for decades. They are trying to change something that ain't broken.
 
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With Turkey making a deal with Sweden, Finland, and the NATO alliance, they will probably get the F-16 upgrades they have sought. Hopefully, they can push to be allowed to upgrade the PAF F-16 Fleet with Turkish Ozgur upgrade and be allowed to sell associated missiles. This considering the US is claiming it is trying to forge better relations under the new Pakistani government.
 
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And Turkey?

Perhaps a good time for Turkey to ditch (in some kind of accommodation involving storage) the S-400s and get back in the F-35 program, for the sake of interoperability in the NATO alliance?


US is going to help Turkey with fighter tech, whether or not it is F-35 is remain to be seen.

The problem is not Russia invading them - the problem is NATO will massively build-up Military in these countries resulting in Russia building Military might near Finland and Sweden. THIS IS A REALLY BAD OUTCOME FOR THESE COUNTRIES AND THE WORLD !! UNFORTUNATELY, ANOTHER NORTH KOREA IN THE MAKING HERE !!

You do know both Finland and Sweden are ALREADY heavily militarise even before they join NATO. Right? Finland in particular have 800,000 reserve......couple with 280,000 wartime active troop... Being neutral does not mean they are not militarise, in fact, it's quite the opposite

And Russia can build whatever they want to build within their border, they can't really make a move into Finland and Sweden now they are joining NATO.
 
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NATO's secretary general along with the leaders and foreign ministers of Turkey, Finland, and Sweden in Madrid, Spain, on June 28, 2022.'s secretary general along with the leaders and foreign ministers of Turkey, Finland, and Sweden in Madrid, Spain, on June 28, 2022.

NATO's secretary general along with the leaders and foreign ministers of Turkey, Finland, and Sweden in Madrid, Spain, on June 28, 2022.AP Photo/Bernat Armangu

NATO has formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the military bloc, in a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

NATO said in a Wednesday statement: "Today, we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO, and agreed to sign the Accession Protocols."

The two countries made significant progress in joining the western military alliance on Tuesday, as Turkey dropped its objections to their membership and NATO announced that the three countries signed an agreement to let the membership process proceed.


But there are more steps that need to happen before they can be members. Indeed, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the agreement one "that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO."

Countries that seek to join NATO are typically invited to start talks with the bloc about any reforms they need to make, and they are then invited to join the "Membership Action Plan," which NATO describes as "a programme which helps nations prepare for possible future membership."

The parliaments of all of NATO's current members then need to approve the countries' joining.

Stoltenberg on Tuesday said he was "absolutely confident" the two nations would become members.

Stoltenberg has also previously offered to try and speed up their membership efforts, which means some of the steps that countries normally go through may be hurried.

It is not clear if, for example, recent talks between NATO and the two nations about their joining may cover the necessary pre-membership talks NATO normally has with candidate countries.

Tuesday's agreement was a major step in the membership efforts of Sweden and Finland.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Pekka Haavistod, and Ann Linde — the foreign ministers of Turkey, Finland and Sweden respectively — signed the agreement on Tuesday.

Two countries need the unanimous support of all of NATO's current members to be able to join the alliance.

Turkey had held out on supporting their membership, accusing the countries of supporting Kurdish militias.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a statement: "Turkey has made significant gains in the fight against terrorist organisations" and that "Turkey got what it wanted" by the signing of the joint security pact on Tuesday.

NATO's secretary general said that both Sweden and Finland agreed to drop their restrictions on selling Turkey weapons and that Sweden agreed to increase work to extradite suspected militants to Turkey.

Sweden and Finland moved away from decades of neutrality to pursue NATO membership after Russia invaded Ukraine. They both first applied to join in May.

The possible growth and apparent strengthening of NATO is the opposite of what Putin wanted.

He has tried to justify his invasion of Ukraine by arguing that he was reacting to the possibility of NATO expanding eastwards, but instead he has prompted attempts at such an expansion.
Building pressure on Russia to distract her from Ukraine and also to declare NATO`s victory. All part of psywar.
 
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Building pressure on Russia to distract her from Ukraine and also to declare NATO`s victory. All part of psywar.

No, this was already being talked about before Russia invaded Ukraine. When Russia started massing troops along the borders with its neighbors...countries started talking about joining NATO.

Note this PDF posted article is from February 21st...days before the 24th invasion:

Now it is going to happen...thanks Putin.
 
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There were successfully Neutral for decades. They are trying to change something that ain't broken.
Imo, it's the international order changed, U.S. new focus is China.
In Putin and his generals' calculation, Russia should take advantage of the power shift, and take actions in East Europe. So here we go, Ukraine War.

Obviously, Putin miscalculated. Now Russia is trapped in Ukraine, no hope to get out from this swamp, at least Biden administration won't let Putin go easily.
Putin may wait for the Trump administration, but I don't think Trump can change NATO, the military complex, the Wall Street, the establishment and foreign policy. Otherwise, they will kill Trump, in an accident, like Kennedy.

U.S. win big in this war. There are other winners I don't want to mention.
 
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No, this was already being talked about before Russia invaded Ukraine. When Russia started massing troops along the borders with its neighbors...countries started talking about joining NATO.

Note this PDF posted article is from February 21st...days before the 24th invasion:

Now it is going to happen...thanks Putin.
Sweden and Finland are part of U.S. security network decades ago, and economy ties with EU are very strong.
Joining NATO is like a couple with 30 years of cohabitation finally get marriage.
 
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These 2 can get ready to send their troops to ukraine……cannon fodder ready. More targets fir Russia…….
US/Nato will ensure destruction of europe…..coming winter gonna be brutal for europe
 
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