No Atlantic alliance for Sweden and Finland. The two countries indeed let it be known on Thursday that they intended to stay outside NATO despite the “shock” of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the concern of seeing Moscow attack a neighboring country.
With the military offensive ordered last night by Vladimir Putin, “we have entered a new dark chapter in European history”, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said at a press conference, condemning “a clear violation of the international law “.
Despite a renewed debate in the Nordic country on joining NATO, the Social Democratic leader defended the maintenance of Sweden out of the Atlantic alliance.
“In such a situation, it is crucial that Sweden’s line in its security policy remains unchanged,” she pleaded. “Sweden has been out of alliances for an extremely long time. It has served Sweden’s interests well.”
A little earlier in Finland, the executive had also ruled out NATO membership for the time being.
A refugee reception plan put in place by Finland
“We have a security strategy designed for times of crisis. We will use the means at our disposal, including cooperation with our NATO partners,” Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said at an urgently called press conference.
“After the crisis, we will see if other actions are necessary,” he said.
Unlike Sweden, Finland has adopted a so-called “NATO option” provision, which means that “if the security of the country so requires, Finland has the opportunity to apply for membership”, recalled the Prime Minister. Sana Marine.
The debate on joining NATO, which has already been lively in recent weeks, “will certainly be more and more fueled in Finland. However, it requires a strong parliamentary consensus,” she stressed.
Helsinki also said it was preparing a plan to receive refugees due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, given the risk of “a large number of refugees” in Europe.
For its part, Norway, a member of the Atlantic Alliance, condemned a “serious violation of international law” and announced the “temporary” relocation of its embassy from Kiev to Lviv, in the west of the country.
“The attack is a serious violation of international law and endangers the lives of innocent people,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre tweeted.
Denmark, also a NATO nation, summoned the Russian ambassador to condemn the invasion.
“Today is a stain in the history of Russia. Denmark strongly condemns Russia’s ruthless and completely unjustified attack on Ukraine. We said this in very clear terms directly to the Russian ambassador,” Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said in a statement.