Now Sweden calls Putin's bluff and announces NATO bid in 'historic' show of defiance
SWEDEN has called Vladimir Putin's bluff, announcing a bid to join NATO in a "historic" show of defiance.
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Ann Linde, Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister, said: "Today the Swedish Social Democratic Party took a historic decision to say yes to apply for a membership in the NATO defence alliance. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has deteriorated the security situation for Sweden and Europe as a whole." In a statement, the Social Democrats, Sweden's ruling party, said: "The party board has at its meeting on May 15, 2022 decided that the party will work toward Sweden applying for membership in NATO."
This comes just hours after Finland announced it will apply to become part of the alliance.
Responding to Finland's decision to apply for NATO membership, Putin warned the country's President Sauli Niinistö that it is making a "mistake".
In a call with President Niinistö, Putin claimed that Finland faces "no security threats".
But Putin was told Russia's invasion of Ukraine and cyber-attacks on Finland and Sweden have "altered the security environment".
However, the Finnish leader said that the call was "conducted without aggravations" as both parties worked to "avoid tensions".
Announcing Finland's decision to proceed with a NATO application, Mr Niinistö said: "Today, the President of the Republic and the Government's Foreign Policy Committee have jointly agreed that Finland will apply for NATO membership, after consulting parliament.
"This is a historic day.
"A new era is opening."
Prime Minister Sanna Marin added: "We have reached today an important decision in good cooperation with the government and the president of the republic.
"We hope the parliament will confirm the decision to apply for the NATO membership during the coming days.
"It will be based on a strong mandate."
The move brings an end to Finland's long-standing commitment to military non-alignment, which has been pursued by the country for 75 years.
Putin has repeatedly warned of consequences if Finland joins the alliance.
But earlier this week Mr Niinistö hit back, saying that "joining NATO would not be against anyone."
He said his response to Putin is: "You caused this. Look in the mirror."
Foreign ministers from the 30 NATO member states are holding two days of talks this weekend in Berlin, focussing on the two latest membership bids.
While applications to join NATO typically take up to a year, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that NATO will attempt to ensure a "quick ratification process".
She said: "Germany has prepared everything to do a quick ratification process.
"We must make sure that we will give them security guarantees, there must not be a transition period, a grey zone, where their status is unclear."