“It will be a surprise, the decision will be made based on a whole set of factors, but it mainly depends on the military”, the official told reporters.
“The decision will be made taking into account the full range of factors and characteristics of how Finland and Sweden’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will develop,” the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
A few hours earlier, the Stockholm and Helsinki ambassadors to the Atlantic Alliance, Klaus Korhonen and Axel Wernhoff, officially presented NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with requests from their countries to join the organization.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeatedly warned that the entry of these Nordic countries into NATO would entail consequences, both for their bilateral relations with Russia and for the European security architecture as a whole.
Likewise, this Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that Moscow has “no problems with these countries” and the expansion of the Atlantic Alliance to Finland and Sweden “does not create a direct threat to Russia.”
At the same time, the president explained that the possible presence of the military infrastructure of the war bloc in these territories could provoke a “response” from the Eurasian nation.
In April, Finland and Sweden declared their intention to join the military bloc, a month later the representatives of the 30 member states of the Alliance meeting this Wednesday in Brussels, did not vote to approve the matter, as the procedure was blocked by Turkey.
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