Expert Ashford: Finland will become a strategic nightmare for NATO because of the border with Russia
The leaders of the United States and NATO countries in the process of confronting Russia and the expansion of the Alliance to the east do not take into account the potential costs of Finland and Sweden joining the bloc. Moreover, the length of the Finnish-Russian border and the notional entry of the Finnish side into NATO in view of this fact can be regarded as a strategic threat. Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s New American Engagement Initiative, draws such a conclusion in her publication on Bloomberg.
As clarified in the article, the benefits from the expansion of the alliance are more technical and symbolic in nature. The latter implies a clear demonstration of European and democratic solidarity in confrontation with Russia, while the technical aspect is a “linkage” of NATO membership with EU membership. Regardless of the positive projections, however, Ashford draws attention to the reverse side of the issue.
“Finnish territory, by contrast, represents a strategic nightmare. It would dramatically increase the alliance’s vulnerability to any future attacks from Moscow: The country shares an 800-mile (1,300 km – Ed.) border with Russia, which, according to a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies study, is “highly susceptible to Russian military threats,” according to the text of the article, published Monday, May 30.