On Monday, Russia threatened Sweden with “technical – military” measures, as it did last week with Finland, if that Scandinavian country joins NATO, as the Swedish government announced.
“Russia will be forced to adopt technical, military and other response measures to combat emerging threats to its national security,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Moscow, stressing that choosing the best path to ensuring national security is an internal affair of each state, ensured that its response would depend “to a large extent” on “the specific conditions for Sweden’s accession to NATO.”
He added that this includes “the possibilities of deploying offensive weapons from this military bloc on Swedish soil.”
In any case, the statement accuses Stockholm, should it join NATO, of inflicting “grave damage to the security of Northern Europe and the European continent as a whole.”
Russia recalls that Sweden’s foreign policy for “more than 200 years” has been based on neutrality, which, for decades, has been “an important factor in maintaining stability and confidence in the Baltic region.”
He added that “its membership in NATO will not increase the level of security for Sweden, even if it is because the country is not threatened by anyone, but it will undoubtedly lead to a loss of sovereignty in foreign policy decision-making.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that Sweden’s entry into NATO would enhance Euro-Atlantic security and the security of the northern country itself, after Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced her candidacy for an intergovernmental military organization.
“Important phone call with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. I welcome her government’s decision to become a member of NATO. Sweden is one of our closest partners and our membership will enhance the security of the Euro-Atlantic region and Sweden at a critical time,” the Norwegian politician wrote on Twitter.
Today, Magdalena Anderson announced that she will apply to join NATO due to the new security situation caused by Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, which will end two centuries of non-aligned foreign policy.
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