May 12 (Reuters) – Finland said on Thursday it would apply to join NATO “without delay”, with Sweden expected to follow suit, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brings about the very expansion of the Western military alliance that Vladimir Putin aimed to prevent.
The decision by the two Nordic countries to abandon the neutrality they maintained throughout the Cold War would be one of the biggest shifts in European security in decades.
They are the two biggest EU countries that had stayed out of NATO, and Finland’s 1,300-km (800-mile) border will more than double the frontier between the U.S.-led alliance and Russia, putting NATO guards a few hours’ drive from the northern outskirts of St Petersburg.
“Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a joint statement in Helsinki. “We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.”
Five diplomats and officials told Reuters that NATO allies expect both countries to be granted membership quickly, paving the way for increased troop presence in the Nordic region to defend them during a one-year ratification period.
