• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Europe
  4. Russia to have more official adversaries after Sweden, Finland join NATO
Europe

Russia to have more official adversaries after Sweden, Finland join NATO

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 14 Apr 2022 12:12

The Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council says Russia will have more officially registered adversaries when Sweden and Finland join NATO.

  • The Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev
    The Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev

Russia now has more to say regarding news of Finland and Sweden applying to join NATO, as Russia's Security Council Deputy Chairman, and former President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Thursday that Moscow will have more officially registered adversaries once the two countries join NATO.

"Sweden and Finland are discussing the possibility of joining NATO with savage seriousness. The alliance itself is ready to accept them ... in the shortest possible time and with minimal bureaucratic procedures," Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel. 

The Russian official further said that Moscow will have to strengthen ground forces and air defenses, and deploy "significant naval forces in the Gulf of Finland" if Finland and Sweden join the alliance.

Finland, alongside its neighbor to the West, Sweden, is expected to request NATO membership in the coming months - before summer. Their accession, if it were to happen, would redefine European security and would be met with opposition from Russia, which has been very vocal about its opposition to NATO's expansion.

"We will have very careful discussions, but we will also not take any more time than we have to in this process because the situation is, of course, very severe," Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters in a nod to a decision being made before summer.

Sweden, on the other hand, still has not fully made up its mind with regards to joining the alliance, for Stockholm has opposed NATO altogether, and is non-aligned militarily, just like Finland. 

Russia has criticized accusations that it posed a threat to the two countries discussing a possible NATO membership in light of regional tensions.

"These claims [over an alleged Russian threat] are unintelligent. They are not based on facts. They are in the realm of propaganda and provocations. They go against the national interests of those countries," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Wednesday in response to statements from Helsinki and Stockholm about the matter.

Russia had for months before the war in Ukraine been warning of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened simultaneously with an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders, and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.

  • Dmitry Medvedev
  • Russia
  • Russian Security Council
  • Nato
  • Finland
  • Sweden
Russia & NATO

Russia & NATO

As the Draconian Western-led sanctions on Russia exacerbate the economic crisis worldwide, and as Russian troops gain more ground despite the influx of military aid into Ukraine, exposing US direct involvement in bio-labs spread across Eastern Europe and the insurgence of neo-Nazi groups… How will things unfold?

Trending Now

All
US soldiers in the Arctic region

Sweden, US sign new agreement on military cooperation: Reports

Most Read

US dollar may lose status as global reserve currency: Yellen

US dollar may lose status as global reserve currency: Yellen

  • US & Canada
  • 22 Mar
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference on 25, February, 2022. (AFP)

Kiev unable to launch counteroffensive: Zelensky

  • Europe
  • 25 Mar
Europe's move has only increased Putin’s esteem outside the West -- but estimation of Europe’s political nous and understanding of Russia, however, is sharply diminished.

Lawfare Comes into Fashion: The New Geo-political ‘Rack’

  • Analysis
  • 25 Mar
Crewmen enter Bradley fighting vehicles at a US military base at an undisclosed location in Northeastern Syria, on November 11, 2019 (AP)

US occupation bases under fire in Syria for second day in a row

  • MENA
  • 24 Mar

Read this

All
Khader Adnan
Palestine

Khader Adnan's health condition deteriorating rapidly: Prisoners Club

  • 26 Mar
French police crackdown leaves protester's life hanging by a thread
Europe

Sainte-Soline police violence leaves protester life hanging by thread

  • 26 Mar
Demonstrators gather outside Downing Street during a Black Lives Matter march in London, on June 6, 2020.
Europe

Black children more likely to be strip-searched in England, Wales

  • Today
Elon Musk's photo is seen through a Twitter logo in this illustration taken October 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Technology

Twitter worth less than half of what I paid for it: Elon Musk memo

  • 26 Mar
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS