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Source: WSWS
Sweden to join NATO with Finland as US-led war on Russia escalates
By Alex Lantier | May 14, 2022
A day after Finland pledged to join NATO "without delay," Sweden's ruling social democrats accepted a parliamentary report also calling to join the US-led alliance. NATO is threatening to turn Scandinavia and the entire Baltic Sea into a second front in the war on Russia it has waged since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Finnish and Swedish troops are joining US and Ukrainian forces in NATO "Hedgehog" war games next week in Estonia, whose border with Russia is just 150 kilometers from Saint Petersburg. The exercise, involving 15,000 troops, will simulate war between NATO and Russia in Estonia. This underscores that Finland's vast,1,300-km border with Russia is becoming a potential war zone.
Asked on Thursday about Finland joining NATO, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said: "Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop the threats to its national security that arise in this regard." Russian officials have said that if Sweden and Finland join NATO, they will try to maintain a regional balance of power by stationing nuclear missiles in Russia's Baltic port enclave at Kaliningrad.
This week, former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev admitted that Europe is rapidly moving towards all-out war. "NATO countries pumping weapons into Ukraine, training troops to use Western equipment, sending in mercenaries and the exercises of Alliance countries near our borders increase the likelihood of a direct and open conflict between NATO and Russia," he said. "Such a conflict always has the risk of turning into a full-fledged nuclear war."
Nonetheless, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is to schedule a debate on joining NATO tomorrow. With staggering recklessness, the Swedish social democrats are scrapping a two-century policy of non-alignment in foreign wars that Sweden has observed since the Napoleonic wars ended in 1814, as the Finns scrapped the neutrality they observed since World War II.
At a press conference last night, Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist admitted that Sweden’s announcement could provoke war with Russia, but dismissed the danger: "If Sweden chooses to seek NATO membership, there is a risk of a reaction from Russia. … Let me state that, in such a case, we are prepared to deal with any counter-response."
At yesterday's press conference, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said: "Swedish NATO membership would raise the threshold for military conflicts and thus have a conflict-preventing effect in northern Europe."
The Swedish government's case for joining NATO is a mixture of political lies and self-delusion. By joining NATO, Sweden is not, as Linde argues, deterring Russia from attacking it by making clear Moscow would potentially run the risk of a military clash with NATO. Rather, Sweden is signing up to a NATO war drive against Russia already being led by Washington, London and Berlin.
Asked on Thursday about Finland joining NATO, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said: "Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop the threats to its national security that arise in this regard." Russian officials have said that if Sweden and Finland join NATO, they will try to maintain a regional balance of power by stationing nuclear missiles in Russia's Baltic port enclave at Kaliningrad.
This week, former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev admitted that Europe is rapidly moving towards all-out war. "NATO countries pumping weapons into Ukraine, training troops to use Western equipment, sending in mercenaries and the exercises of Alliance countries near our borders increase the likelihood of a direct and open conflict between NATO and Russia," he said. "Such a conflict always has the risk of turning into a full-fledged nuclear war."
Nonetheless, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is to schedule a debate on joining NATO tomorrow. With staggering recklessness, the Swedish social democrats are scrapping a two-century policy of non-alignment in foreign wars that Sweden has observed since the Napoleonic wars ended in 1814, as the Finns scrapped the neutrality they observed since World War II.
At a press conference last night, Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist admitted that Sweden’s announcement could provoke war with Russia, but dismissed the danger: "If Sweden chooses to seek NATO membership, there is a risk of a reaction from Russia. … Let me state that, in such a case, we are prepared to deal with any counter-response."
At yesterday's press conference, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said: "Swedish NATO membership would raise the threshold for military conflicts and thus have a conflict-preventing effect in northern Europe."
The Swedish government's case for joining NATO is a mixture of political lies and self-delusion. By joining NATO, Sweden is not, as Linde argues, deterring Russia from attacking it by making clear Moscow would potentially run the risk of a military clash with NATO. Rather, Sweden is signing up to a NATO war drive against Russia already being led by Washington, London and Berlin.
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The US said ready to give military support to Finland, Sweden and NATO members as the US-led war against Russia escalates:
Military support ready for NATO applicants – US
Military support ready for NATO applicants – US
The Ukraine military are going to collapse:
Much of the German Fourth Reich in the form of scientists transplanted to the US after 1945 became enmeshed in American institutions including inside the CIA.
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