Nato has formally launched the process to bring Sweden and Finland into its military alliance. But a key condition for Nato member Turkey is the handover of more than 70 people described by its president as terrorists.
The leaders of the two Nordic nations say they are taking the issue seriously, but ultimately extradition is up to the courts not politicians. So who does Turkey want and could they ever be deported to Ankara?
There is a slow-motion buildup to a hot war with Russia happening. The NATO and western alliance motive for the war is clear. The question is rapidly moving from “if” to “when.”
MADRID – Russian troops poured into Ukraine on the morning of Feb. 24, invading by land and sea as airstrikes rained down on cities, in an all-out attack unlike anything seen in Europe since the Second World War.
The months that followed have left thousands dead, millions more displaced, led to famine and fuel shortages and fundamentally changed the world order.
Now the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is prepared to embark on the greatest overhaul of the alliance’s deterrence capabilities since the Cold War at a leaders’ summit in Spain, but Canada’s role in the new defence strategy remains uncertain.
Justin could volunteer as the gender consultant.
When it starts to show around the world that food is running out (the inevitable result of western nations chasing climate change energy policy) visible starvation is the moment when NATO and the Western alliance will attack Russia as a distraction. (Threadreader for you anti-Tweeter peoplekind)
Just when, after years of idling around, NATO appears to be gaining some strategic prominence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the only Muslim member of the alliance is holding 29 other members as hostage, blocking the most critical move in its history. Surrendering to an Islamist’s well-known oriental bargaining tactics will mean the demise of the alliance.
In a historic move, Sweden and Finland recently submitted their written applications to join NATO but Turkey’s Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is threatening to use his country’s veto power to block the Nordic nations coming under the Western security umbrella. This is putting NATO’s renewed credibility at stake, presumably to the delight of NATO’s nemesis, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After initial hesitation about the seriousness of Turkey’s objections, its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has doubled down on his threat to veto Finland’s and Sweden’s applications for membership of Nato, saying there is no point in either country sending delegations to Ankara to persuade him otherwise.
On Wednesday, he also extended his demands from the two he outlined on Monday to 10, leading to claims that he is using blackmail.
Once again, Turkey is the odd one out in the NATO alliance. The country’s Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is trying to turn what appears to be the most strategic move in NATO’s history into carpet-trading at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.
Erdoğan said on May 13 that his country is “not favorable” toward Finland and Sweden joining NATO, indicating Turkey could use its membership in the Western military alliance to veto moves to admit the two countries.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden on Monday decided to join neighboring Finland in seeking NATO membership, ending more than two centuries of military nonalignment in a historic shift prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The move drew strong objections from Turkey, a key NATO member who declared the two nations should not be allowed to join because they have been too lax in taking action against Kurdish militants. Countries can only join NATO if all current members agree.
If you’ve been following the news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, you probably already heard about a potentially significant fly that just dropped into the ointment of Findland and Sweden’s expected applications to join NATO. The fly in this case is Turkish tyrant Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Once the news broke of not only the two nations’ inclinations to join, but Russia’s threats to respond “militarily,” Erdogan stepped up to the microphone and said that Turkey is “not favorable” toward allowing those two countries to join.
Canada is boosting its role in NATO deterrence efforts in Latvia amid a major shift by the alliance to a more assertive defensive posture in the wake of Russian atrocities in Ukrainian cities of Bucha and Mariupol.
Finland must apply to join Nato without delay in the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, its president and prime minister have said, confirming a historic change in the Nordic country’s security policy after decades of military non-alignment.
Sauli Niinistö and Sanna Marin made the call in a joint statement, adding: “We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.”
Nato membership would strengthen Finland’s security, the two leaders said, and as a member of Nato: “Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance. Finland must apply for Nato membership as a matter of urgency.”
Update – Finland Nato: Russia threatens to retaliate over membership move
Russia has said it will be forced to take “retaliatory steps” over its neighbour Finland’s move to join Nato.
A foreign ministry statement said the move would seriously damage bilateral relations, as well as security and stability in northern Europe.
Earlier, Finland’s president and PM called for the country to apply for Nato membership “without delay”.
Great Britain is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s public enemy number one. In March the Kremlin branded UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson the most active anti-Russian leader. A few days ago on television, Putin’s propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov fancifully suggested Russia should drown Britain in a radioactive tsunami created by Poseidon nuclear torpedos that would leave survivors in “a radioactive desert, unfit for anything for a very long time”.
Putin is upset about Britain’s stance over Ukraine, leading Europe and much of the world in aggressive sanctions against Russia; and pouring in financial and military aid plus decisive secret intelligence to help keep Kiev in the fight.
The Swedes need little proof of Russia’s disregard for the sovereignty of nation states.
Several Russian fighter aircraft were intercepted near NATO airspace over the Baltic and Black Seas several times in late April by alliance Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) warplanes. On April 29, a Russian spy plane also violated Sweden’s sovereign airspace. NATO fighter interceptors from Denmark, Poland, Spain, and France responded to the Russian challenge over Baltic Sea airspace. Romanian and British fighters intercepted Russian aircraft over the Black Sea.
NATO already has a Muslim member state in Turkey.
China’s ministry of foreign affairs has accused Nato of messing up Europe and stirring up conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region, after the UK’s foreign secretary told China it should “play by the rules”.
In a speech at Mansion House in London on Wednesday, Liz Truss renewed calls to boost Nato in the wake of the Ukraine war, and said the coordinated moves to isolate Russia from the world economy proved that market access to democratic countries was no longer a given. Truss also delivered a direct warning to China.
“Countries must play by the rules. And that includes China,” she said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the newspaper that the alliance was “in the midst of a very fundamental transformation” that will reflect “the long-term consequences” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions.
“What we see now is a new reality, a new normal for European security,” Stoltenberg said, per The Telegraph. “Therefore, we have now asked our military commanders to provide options for what we call a reset, a longer-term adaptation of NATO.”
“For 25 years people like myself have said that NATO expansion would lead to war. Putin said several times that if it came to Ukraine becoming a member of NATO, there would be no Ukraine anymore. In Bucharest in 2008 there was a plan of quick accession of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO. It was blocked by the efforts of Germany and France, but since that time Ukraine has been integrated into NATO. It was pumped up by weaponry and its troops were trained by NATO, their army getting stronger and stronger day by day. In addition we saw a very rapid increase of neo-Nazi sentiment especially among the military, the society and the ruling elite. It was clear that Ukraine had become something like Germany around 1936-1937. The war was inevitable, they were a spearhead of NATO. We made the very hard decision to strike first, before the threat becomes deadlier.”
