Kremlin calls Finland's NATO move a threat to Russia
By Caitlin McFall | Fox News
https://i.imgur.com/3pY2oFo.png
The Kremlin on Thursday said Finland’s push to join NATO is a direct threat to Russia as well as the stability of the European continent and vowed to respond accordingly.
"Finland’s entry into NATO will become a threat to Russia," Dmitry Peskov, press secretary to Russian President Vladimir Putin, told Russian media outlets."The next expansion of NATO does not make our continent more stable and secure."
"Of course, all this will become elements for a special analysis and development of the necessary measures in order to balance the situation and ensure our security," he added.
The comments came after Finnish leaders on Thursday urged their country’s officials to initiate the NATO application process "without delay" and argued the backing of the 30-member alliance was vital to Helsinki’s security.
Finland, a traditionally neutral nation in Northern Europe that shares a border with Russia, began to look to the military alliance along with neighboring Sweden after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
NATO expansion has been chief among Putin’s security concerns and was a contributing factor as to why he launched his invasion of Ukraine, which had previously looked to join the 30-member alliance.
NATO membership grants security support for each nation that joins under the Article 5 pledge that declares that an attack on one nation will trigger an attack from the entire alliance.
https://i.imgur.com/lpTfhD5l.png
Western officials have long argued that Putin intended to weaken NATO by causing discord in Europe upon invading Ukraine – a war that has resulted in the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II.
But instead, nations are now looking to expand the alliance over concerns that Putin could extend his conflict beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Moscow last month threatened to deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles along its western border with Finland should it or Sweden expand NATO membership.
The U.S., U.K. and Germany have pledged security guarantees for Helsinki and Stockholm while they await admittance into the alliance.
Finland Brewery Launches NATO-themed Beer With ‘Taste of Security'
By Jari Tanner - NBC 5 DFW
https://i.imgur.com/HMLQs1z.jpg
A small brewery in Finland has launched a NATO-themed beer to mark the Nordic country’s bid to join the Western military alliance.
Olaf Brewing's OTAN lager features a blue label with a cartoon version of a beer-drinking medieval knight in metal armor emblazoned with NATO’s compass symbol.
The beer's name is a play on the Finnish expression “Otan olutta,” which means “I’ll have a beer,” and the French abbreviation for NATO, which is “OTAN.” The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has two official languages, English and French.
CEO Petteri Vanttinen told The Associated Press on Thursday that the craft brewery’s ad hoc decision last weekend to start producing the beer was motivated by “worries over the war in Ukraine” and its consequences for Finland.
He described the new lager as having “a taste of security, with a hint of freedom.”
Finland and Sweden on Wednesday submitted an application to join NATO at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
Olaf Brewing said its new beer also honors the eastern Finnish town of Savonlinna, the brewery’s base located a few dozen kilometers from Finland's border with Russia.
Savonlinna is known for St. Olaf’s Castle, a medieval structure from 1475 that serves as a venue for an annual international opera festival.
“Our small hometown Savonlinna has always lied in the borderlands between East and West. Many battles have been fought in the town area and at St. Olafs Castle” the brewery said in a Twitter post.