The United States will “strongly support” the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO if they choose to join the military alliance, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday. The remarks by the top US diplomat are likely to provoke an angry response from Moscow, which recently threatened to move nuclear weapons and supersonic missiles closer to the Swedish-Finnish border if they choose to join the military alliance. “The world has changed quite dramatically and one of the ways it has changed is in the very strong interest of both countries to join NATO,” Blinken said. “Of course, we look forward to them making that decision. “If they decide, we will strongly support it.” The United States has long made it clear that it supports an open door policy for NATO that allows any nation to apply for membership. But he was more careful about the spelling of what would follow. “They have been extremely careful about what they say, always saying that we have an open door policy to decide and that is where they stop,” said a Scandinavian diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues. The diplomat said Blinken’s comments were a stronger support for NATO membership than he had heard from the United States in the past. “In the past, they did not want to give the impression that they were trying to lure Sweden and Finland into NATO. “They did not want to upset the Russians unnecessarily.” Sweden has been away from military alliances for more than two centuries. Finland has waged dozens of wars with Russia, but sought a neutral regime in the post-war period. But since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both nations have reconsidered their current position and seen increasing support for public support for NATO membership. The expansion of NATO, which requires unanimity among the 30 members, would mean the most important geopolitical consequence of the Russian invasion to date. Finland’s accession to NATO would double Russia’s land border with its members. Accession would involve security guarantees from the United States to two of Europe’s most vulnerable countries as they seek to balance their focus on East Asia. The aim would be to prevent Russia from invading another of its neighbors, although it could also risk further aggression from Moscow. Before invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that NATO refrain from expanding eastward and accused the military alliance of trying to “encircle” Russia. In December, he described as “unacceptable” any further enlargement of NATO. “Is there anything vague about this? Do we deploy missiles near the US border? No we are not. “It’s the United States that has come to our house with its missiles and is already standing on our doorstep,” Putin told his annual news conference. “Is it too far to demand that strike systems not be installed near our house? What’s so unusual about that? “ Asked how soon the two countries could join, Blinken said, “I can not give you a timetable,” but pointed to an upcoming NATO summit in May, where “we will hear more about it.” “The decision on this issue will be made very soon,” Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Thursday. Marin had said on April 13 that Finland would launch an immediate debate on NATO membership – a decision with “different perspectives” for and against implementation that needed to be “carefully analyzed”, he said. A poll in Finland found an unprecedented majority of Finns in favor of NATO membership in the early days of Russia’s invasion. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson also said this month that Sweden was considering its position outside NATO. In early March, a majority of Swedes voted in favor of joining NATO for the first time, a poll showed. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the two Nordic countries, which he called “our closest partners”, would soon be welcomed into the alliance. “It’s their decision,” Stoltenberg said. “But if they decide to apply, Finland and Sweden will be warmly welcomed and I expect this process to proceed quickly.”
