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President Vladimir Putin believes that NATO enlargement is a direct threat to his country’s security, so the unification of Sweden and Finland into the alliance is likely to be perceived as a provocation.
Russia’s foreign ministry says both countries have been warned of the “consequences” of such a move. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of the Russian leader, has warned that NATO membership could push Moscow to deploy nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania.
While not dismissing these threats, former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb suggested that a more real danger was Russian cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns and occasional airspace violations.
The two countries appear to be one step away from the alliance, as Turkey gave the long-awaited green light to Sweden and Finland’s entry into NATO, vetoing the two Nordic countries’ aspirations.
The three countries signed a memorandum in Madrid, on the first day of the North Atlantic Alliance summit. The document was signed in the presence of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Margaret Andersson, at the conclusion of a meeting that lasted almost four hours.
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