After waiting for months, Finland’s approval into NATO was finally ratified by every member. Here’s why it’s a major defeat for Russia and Vladimir Putin.
After being delayed by Turkey, Finland’s membership in NATO has been officially ratified on Thursday by Ankara’s parliament. For the moment, Sweden’s approval is still pending after the Quran incident in Stockholm.
Finland applied for membership in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Decades of neutrality were put to an end, as Finland felt threatened with its 800 kms border with Russia.
A new membership must be approved by every other NATO member, and Hungary and Turkey were withholding their decision. Both Hungarian president Viktor Orban and Turkish president Recep Tayyp Erdogan are close friends of Vladimir Putin, their Russian counterpart.
Hungary has always rejected European sanctions against Russia until the very last minute, while Turkey tried to play Finland and Sweden’s application to their advantage.
Erdogan demanded extradition from Sweden and Finland of Kurdish separatists, which would have likely granted them a harsh prison term.
Kurdistan is a region of Turkey that has demanded independence for decades. It is believed they are harshly suppressed by the Ankara central government, hence why many Kurdish activists left the country.
NATO pressured Turkey into accepting Finnish and Swedish applications as soon as possible. Finally, on Thursday, Ankara’s approval came through.
Why Finnish membership in NATO is a defeat for Putin
The entrance of Finland in NATO is a major strategic defeat for Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.
The invasion of Ukraine started specifically because of Kyiv’s approach to the West and its apparent willingness to join NATO. Now, it is clear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine only benefitted NATO strategically.
With Finland part of the alliance, Russia is completely locked out of the Baltic Sea. Saint Petersburg, one of the few Russian major ports, is now surrounded from the north by Finland and the south by Estonia.
For Russian warships to get out in the Baltic, they would have to pass through the narrow Gulf of Finland. Any hostile move by the Russian fleet in Saint Petersburg would be spotted and acted upon extremely quickly and efficiently.
Furthermore, Saint Petersburg is Russia’s second biggest city and Putin’s own hometown. Now, it sits at stone toss from NATO’s borders, both from the north and the south.
Finally, NATO troops can now realistically march towards Murmansk, another important Russian port hosting Moscow’s nuclear submarine fleet. So far, Murmansk’s closest point to NATO was the Estonian border, several hundreds kilometers of harsh forests to the south.
Essentially, Finland joining NATO is an objective defeat for Russia, as well as for Putin’s whole political strategy. Another blow that the Russian elites will have to consider.
