Discussion»Questions»Current Events and News» With all of the news on trump, it seems the media failed to notice that Finland is now a member of NATO. Did you know that?
Yes, I did. It was on the TV news. I usually switch around several channels so I don't know which ones carried it.
This post was edited by NYAD at April 6, 2023 11:59 AM MDT
It seems that Putin's invasion has backfired on him, and badly. Had Ukraine applied for NATO membership two years ago, it probably wouldn't have been ratified. Germany would most likely have vetoed a Ukrainian application. Now the situation has changed - Finland actually shares a longer border with Russia than Ukraine does and is just as well suited to the conditions that makes Russia such a difficult adversary - its weather. And German opinion towards Ukrainian membership has also softened - if Ukraine wins the war (as seems increasingly likely), any request for NATO membership will be fast-tracked. Sweden has also applied for membership, but Turkey and Hungary are blocking it - for now at least. Sweden's government has been outspoken about human rights abuses in Turkey, and alleged "erosion of democracy" in Hungary. Turkey has an election pending, if Erdoğan is defeated, this will aid Sweden - the opposition leader, Kemal Kiliçdaroğlu, is said to hold a more favourable opinion towards Swedish membership and is ahead on most opinion polls. If Turkey drops its opposition, Hungary will most likely cave (ratification must be unanimous and Turkey's control of the Dardanelles, blocking the Russian Black Sea fleet's access to the Mediterranean, is more important to NATO than Sweden's Baltic submarine fleet).
This post was edited by Slartibartfast at April 7, 2023 10:53 AM MDT
my2cents 