Vladimir Putin issues a threat over Finland’s entry into NATO: “Now there will be problems”

Vladimir Putin warned that there would be”problems“With the neighbors Finland After he entered NATO Earlier this year, in an interview published on Sunday, Moscow said it would create a new military district in northwestern Russia.

Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, joined NATO in April this year amid Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine.

“They dragged (Western) Finland into NATO. Did we have any disputes with them? All disputes, including the territorial disputes of the mid-20th century, have long been resolved,” Putin told a state television reporter.

“There is no problem there, there will be now, because we will create the Leningrad Military District and concentrate a certain number of military units there.”.

In October, the Russian Defense Ministry issued a presidential draft through which the Northern Fleet was absorbed into this new military district. The decision was framed by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as a “response move” to NATO’s expansion into Finland and Sweden.

The comments come as Finland again closed its border with Russia this week, accusing it of orchestrating a migrant crisis on its border.

And they come after the Finnish government announced a signing next Monday A new defense treaty with the US “to more easily organize joint operations” and make it easier for US troops to enter the country during a conflict.

The agreement lists 15 facilities and areas in Finland where the United States has unfettered access and where equipment and ammunition can be stored.

Moscow has warned of countermeasures against Helsinki joining NATO.

Even Putin He said there was no reason for Russia to go to war with NATO countriesAfter US President Joe Biden said Moscow “will not stand still” if it wins in Ukraine this month.

“Rhetoric to justify wrong policy towards Russia,” Putin said.

He said that Moscow has “no interest – geopolitically, economically or militarily – in going to war with NATO countries”.

The Kremlin’s campaign in Ukraine has reignited fears of Russian aggression in NATO’s eastern flank.

For its part, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was revived The European Union’s interest in expanding into Central and Eastern Europe.

In December 2022, Bosnia Becomes the fifth Balkan candidate country North Macedonia (2005), Montenegro (2010), Serbia (2012) and Albania (2014)

Kosovo also submitted its candidacy for 2022, but has not yet been awarded.

Turkey itselfA NATO member, it has been a candidate since 1999 and opened accession negotiations in 2005.

But Ankara’s relations with the EU have deteriorated sharply since 2016, due to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on dissent following a failed coup.

For many EU member states, the long-stalled accession talks are dead in all but name. In September, Austria, which has long opposed Turkey’s accession, called for an end to the process.

UkraineEuropean ambitions that have fueled two revolutions since 2004, with Moldova and Georgia bringing the number of countries in the EU’s waiting room to nine.

The three former Soviet republics traded closer economic and political ties for reforms in 2009 when the EU was one of six countries that formed the Eastern Partnership.

The others were Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia’s ally Belarus, which later withdrew.

Full access is a complex process that typically takes several years, as applicants must incorporate a vast body of EU legislation.

While Finland was admitted within four years, the three former Soviet Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) took nine years.

(With information from AFP and Europa Press)