Medvedev: Russia Will Have More Registered Foes If Sweden, Finland Join NATO
07:24 GMT 14.04.2022 (Updated: 08:49 GMT 14.04.2022)
© Sputnik / Yekaterina Shtukina / Go to the mediabankDeputy Chairman of the of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev during an interview on 17 April 2020.
© Sputnik / Yekaterina Shtukina
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On Wednesday, the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported that Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is planning to file an application for her country to join NATO in June of this year.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has said that if Sweden and Finland join NATO, Russia will have more officially registered adversaries.
"Sweden and Finland are discussing the possibility of their joining NATO with bestial seriousness. The alliance itself is ready to accept them [...] in the shortest possible time and with minimal bureaucratic procedure", Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
He noted that the US "is widely broadcasting its 'welcome' to the representatives of Northern Europe's push for joining NATO. […] What does that mean? It means that Russia will have more officially registered opponents".
Medvedev also wrote that if Sweden and Finland enter NATO, the length of NATO's ground borders with Russia will more than double, adding, that "naturally these borders will have to be strengthened".
Additionally, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council said that the possible entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO will mean that adhering to the non-nuclear status of the Baltic is out of the question.
"[…] balance must be restored. Until now, Russia has not taken such measures and was not going to take them", Medvedev stated.
He also warned against linking the issue of Sweden and Finland joining NATO to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
"It makes no sense to argue that if it were not for the special operation in Ukraine, the question of these countries joining NATO would not have arisen at all and the situation would have been easier for Russia. This is not so. Firstly, attempts to drag them into the alliance have been made before. And secondly, most importantly, we do not have territorial disputes with these countries, which is why the price of such membership is different for us", Medvedev wrote.
Earlier this week, media reports claimed that Finland is expected to make a decision on joining NATO by June, while Sweden will announce its position later in the summer.
The developments unfold amid Russia's ongoing special military operation to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 24 February. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the operation only targets Ukraine's military infrastructure with high-precision weapons.