Finland got de-Finlandized at last.<p>Which is what the expansion of NATO was always about. NATO isn't a threat to Russia itself - if Russia seriously feared NATO aggression, it wouldn't voluntarily demilitarize its NATO borders during the past 13 months.<p>NATO expansion just neutralizes Russian ability to force its will upon its neighbors through threat of aggression (or in case like Ukraine through the use of aggression).
As General Adolf Ehrnrooth aptly put it ”Ei enää koskaan yksin”, ”We should never again defend ourselves alone” as the lesson of the Winter War. Glad that we finally acted on that lesson and got allied. Another nail in the coffin of finlandization, albeit with a heavy price the Ukrainians continue to pay every day.
This is as much a defense policy decision as it is an economic one. Hard for us to get foreign investment living next to a dictatorial warstate unless there's some risk mitigation in place.<p>Not that I don't trust the FDF, pound-for-pound one of the better military organizations out there. (and a happy member of it myself.)
This is not just great news for a Finland, but also for my own Norway, and the rest of Scandinavia. Even before this was finalized there was already work on closer cooperation and integration between our air forces. Give it some time and we will see all of us getting more out of defense spending, by not having to duplicate everything and combine buying contracts. When Sweden finally joins later is going to get even better. Attacking any state in Scandinavia just got a lot harder, and was imo. the whole point of this.
As a Polish guy, this is the best international policy news I got in a while. Finland is a great ally and definitely will up the security in the region.
Great step for the West and civilized nations!<p>Countries with similar civilized values should not be naïve and be ready to stand up to barbarians including being aggressive when needed, and yes, EXPAND!<p>And certainly the West should not be ashamed for standing for its values and what is right, otherwise there is a wide range of ambitious nations who think that their way is unique and the only way to deal with others is power, while despising fundamental human values.<p>While power may beat everything in some cases, but for some reason citizens of those barbarian countries want to move to the West rather than enjoy their countries' glory in a concentration camp.<p>I'm saying this as Ukrainian.
Meanwhile, Sweden's NATO application is blocked by Turkey because former Peshmerga fighter Amineh Kakabaveh happened to become very powerful in the chaotic Swedish parliament a few years ago.<p>The story: <a href="https://www.outlookindia.com/international/former-kurdish-rebel-turned-lawmaker-has-key-role-in-sweden-s-nato-bid-news-202347" rel="nofollow">https://www.outlookindia.com/international/former-kurdish-re...</a>
As a Swede this makes me happy, partially because Finland shares a lot of their border with Russia and can now feel safe knowing they have the might of 30 nations behind them, but also because we're now surrounded by NATO countries. So no need for us to join, right? Right?!<p>Let's remain neutral and a free haven for political dissidents and potential refugees of the future, right?!!
So, this is mostly a US-centric forum, but I wonder what is the take on this from the perspective of a Finnish person.<p>Is there any controversy or concerns of becoming a foothold for future conflicts?
This whole thing has been dragging on for sometime now, had the opinions shifted over time?
For people not very well versed into the background of this, the pop-geopolitics personality-phenomena Peter Zeihan did a recap on it today: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vt3CxtQsuQ&ab_channel=ZeihanonGeopolitics">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vt3CxtQsuQ&ab_channel=Zeiha...</a>
Score a win for the US, NATO, and the west. Putin is a weak fraud who has been exposed…can’t wait for his regime to collapse, all without the west lifting a finger.<p>When you meet a mad paranoid dog like Putin, the best thing is to bait them and let them eat themselves just like Putin has done.
The comments are pretty hard to read here given that any comment not cheering this on is immediately downvoted to death. Many are legitimate comments - I see why some might disagree with them but it’s not even possible to learn from them if they are silenced.