Putin's war in Ukraine spurs Finland to join NATO

 Washington Examiner:

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to overthrow the Ukrainian government has spurred Finland into the fast lane to join NATO in defiance of Russian threats and Kremlin pressure to force a practical contraction of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

“Finland — with a quite great, big probability — will give [an] application for NATO, and then Sweden can follow,” a senior European diplomat told the Washington Examiner. “Finland is ahead. Sweden is not — their discussions are a little bit lagging behind.”

Finland’s application reportedly could come as soon as early May in what would amount to a sprint into NATO from a country that shares an 800-mile border with Russia. That dialogue reflects a sea change in Finnish public opinion in the weeks since Putin ordered more than 150,000 Russian troops into Ukraine.

“The message from NATO and from me is that it is for Finland to decide,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told CNBC on Friday. “We will respect the decision regardless of what the conclusion will be, but if Finland decides to apply for membership, I am confident that NATO allies will warmly welcome them — and we can quite quickly make the decision to have them as a member of the allies.”

...

This is another example of how Putin's aggression in Ukraine is backfiring on him.  He feared Ukraine joining NATO and now others are rushing to join in order to fend off future Russian attacks. It is another way Putin's war against Ukraine has been a total disaster for Russia.

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