The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO will strengthen the security of the Baltic states and strengthen the Western military alliance, said the Lithuanian president, urging the two Scandinavian countries not to waste time applying.
Gitanas Nauseda has rejected Russian threats to increase its military presence in the Baltic states and deploy nuclear weapons there if the couple agrees to join the alliance. He said Moscow had kept such weapons in its Kaliningrad exclave for many years and that Finland and Sweden were responding only to Russian aggression.
“The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO would improve the security situation in the Baltic region. We will be better able to control and control the Baltic region from a military point of view. But it will also strengthen NATO as an organization, “Nauseda told the Financial Times.
Both countries are members of the EU, but have remained outside NATO, believing that relations with Russia are better served if they remain outside the alliance. But with a sharp reversal, Finland is ready to apply for NATO membership in the coming weeks, while Sweden is considering whether to follow suit, as both are considering how to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, another non-NATO member.
Public opinion in the two Scandinavian countries quickly turned to joining the alliance, urging politicians in both Helsinki and Stockholm to make swift decisions, even amid warnings of possible escalation.
Russia, which had previously warned of “serious military and political consequences” if one of the two countries joins NATO, said this week that it would be forced to strengthen its borders with the alliance, which would double if Finland joined.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says Sweden and Finland should not react to Russia’s “aggressive rhetoric” © AFP via Getty Images
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president, also warned that nuclear weapons would be moved to the Baltic states, although Lithuanian authorities first warned in 2018 that they were in Kaliningrad.
“What would that mean for all of us?” Nauseda asked. “There may be some aggressive rhetoric from Russia, maybe even some decisions to increase the military presence here. However, the Kaliningrad region is perhaps the most militarized region in Europe, and tactical nuclear weapons are already in place. I don’t think we need to react to this rhetoric. “
He said Finland and Sweden “cannot waste time and must implement solutions as soon as possible”, adding that they saw “the rhetoric of the Putin regime becoming more aggressive”. Finland wants to make a decision before the NATO summit in Madrid in June, Helsinki officials say.
The Baltic states would like the Swedish island of Gotland, commonly called the aircraft carrier in the Baltic Sea, to be part of NATO as well as the respected Finnish military.
The President of Lithuania supported the proposal of the NATO leader to increase the 1,000 military battalions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to brigades, which usually number between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers.
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Nauseda also backed a call by Kaya Kallas, Estonia’s prime minister, for NATO to change its air defense mission in the Baltic air defense, allowing it to shoot down enemy planes if necessary.
“We need boots on the ground. Front protection instead of deterrence or quick reinforcement. The most credible deterrence is the practical deployment of foreign troops here, in the Baltic States and in Poland. . . “Air police may be good for peacetime, but this is not an adequate solution, given what is happening in Ukraine,” he added.
Lithuania is increasing its defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product this year – well above NATO’s 2% target – and is aiming for 3%. Nauseda said the money would be spent not only on new equipment but also on infrastructure and accommodation for foreign troops, and would soon double its capacity.
Nauseda, who recently met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Kyiv, stressed that Ukraine needs help not only with anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, but also for rebuilding the country and opening logistics corridors to export goods.
He accused Russia of “deliberately and cynically committing genocide against the Ukrainian nation” and warned that its leaders in Moscow would be held accountable. “We will see that nothing is forgotten,” Nauseda added.
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