Moscow: Further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including the likely accession of Finland and Sweden, will not contribute to security in Europe, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said today, Prensa Latina reports.
?The Alliance itself is more a confrontational tool. It is not an alliance that guarantees peace and stability. Further expansion of the Alliance will certainly not bring additional security to the European continent,? the official told reporters.
The Times newspaper reported Stockholm and Helsinki want to join NATO this summer and their authorities are working together to reach a consensus within their countries on the issue of their membership, but each state will make the final decision in an independent manner.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu commented earlier that the possible entry of these nations into the bloc was one of the most discussed issues during the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, which took place in Brussels on April 6th and 7th.
The Finnish newspaper Iltalehti confirmed that the country may decide to apply for NATO membership in May, after the next parliamentary session, according to a report to be presented by the government on foreign and security policy.
If the application is approved, Finland?s NATO admission process could take several months to a year, its Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.
The ruling Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Sweden (SDRPS), for its part, is holding an internal discussion about the possibility of the country becoming a member of the Euro-Atlantic bloc.
In recent days, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson did not rule out a review of her country’s attitude towards the non-alignment policy and joining the Alliance.
Although she repeatedly defended the neutral status of that nation, she now argued that “when the security policy map is redrawn, we must re-analyze and make corresponding decisions.” The prohibition of NATO expansion to the east is part of the proposals for security guarantees put forward by Russia in the documents presented since mid-December to the United States and the Atlantic Alliance, talks that ceased with the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine on February 24.