A small contingent of Russian soldiers patrols
the border. Their numbers are small as many of their comrades have been sent south to fight
a losing war against Ukraine. The soldiers are ordered across the border in a desperate
attempt to regain control of the situation. Hesitantly they proceed, but as soon as they
traverse the line between the two nations, they are met by M1 Abrams and Leopard II tanks;
F-35 Lightning IIs scream through the air; heavily armed NATO soldiers
appear from seemingly nowhere. This hypothetical scenario is what’s in store
for Russian forces if they even think about attacking Finland. Russia had no hope of
successfully invading Finland to begin with, and now the country is a part of
NATO. The moment Russia shows any sign of aggression against Finland, 30
other countries will come to their aid, including the United States. This
would be checkmate for Vladamir Putin. When Russia invaded Ukraine, 80% of the Finnish
population wanted to join NATO. Previously this was a country where the vast majority of people
staunchly wanted to remain neutral. However, the very real threat of a Russian invasion is
enough to change the mind of even the most staunch supporters of neutrality. The history between
Russia and Finland has not been a pleasant, and even though the Nordic nation
has been improving its military over the years and is more than capable of
defending itself, the population felt they needed to make a strong statement against
their aggressive neighbor. So on May 17, 2022, Finland, along with Sweeden,
applied to become part of NATO. Other Western powers applauded this
move. It would allow NATO to be much more powerful and open up a whole new gateway
to keep Russia in check. Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, was furious. He
threatened to launch missiles, invade, or take drastic actions to keep Finland from
being accepted into the alliance. For a while, the world held its breath to see what Putin
would do since their application would be forfeit if he declared war against Finland
before they were voted into NATO. The bylaws of the organization state that any nation
which is already at war cannot be accepted. However, at this time, Putin had a much bigger
problem developing in Ukraine. His forces were being decimated by Western weapons and the
superior tactical skills of the Ukrainian military. Russia was taking heavy losses and being
pushed further and further back toward its own borders. Putin didn’t have the men or resources to
launch an invasion of Finland, and even if he did, it’s likely the Finish military would
crush anything Russia could throw at it. For almost a year, Finland's acceptance
into NATO was hampered by two nations, Turkey and Hungary. In order for a new nation to
be admitted into the organization, all previous members need to vote for their acceptance.
These two nations were the only thing standing in the way of Finland joining the most powerful
military organization in the world. Obviously, Vladimir Putin hoped that they would never be
admitted and that he could find a way to keep his northernmost neighbor from becoming even
closer to the United States and its allies. The key thing to remember is that one of
Putin’s biggest reasons for invading Ukraine was to keep Western powers from encroaching
further toward Russian borders. The Russian dictator claimed that the War in Ukraine is being
carried out in self-defense as NATO nations and their forces threatened Russia’s security.
And to be fair, Putin wasn’t wrong. However, even as NATO was becoming stronger, Finland
had no plans to change its neutral stance. Unfortunately for Putin, his invasion of
Ukraine drove the Finnish government right into the arms of NATO. He single-handedly
caused a national shift in thinking, resulting in Finland dropping its neutral
stance and searching for allies. Something that, up until that point, no one else had been
able to do. The irony is that Vladamir Putin caused his worst fears to become a
reality. So, let’s explore why Putin is so afraid of Finland joining NATO and what
it might mean for the future of the region. On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, Finland
officially became the 31st nation to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto, along with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, were all a part of the ceremony to officially
welcome Finland into the organization. As the officials of these Western nations smiled and
shook hands, Vladamir Putin frowned and brooded. When the Finish flag was raised alongside
the other 30 members of NATO, it stood as a declaration by the Western world that Putin’s war
in Ukraine and the objectives he hoped to achieve had failed. He could no longer intimidate
nations to distance themselves from NATO. He could no longer threaten acts of war to
get what he wanted. He could no longer put Finland in a position where it had to fear a
repeat of past atrocities against its people. These are all major concerns for Vladamir
Putin, but what he is really afraid of is that no one fears him anymore. In fact,
Putin’s decisions are starting to become a model for exactly what not to do if you rule
a country and want to expand its borders. Putin claimed that the invasion of Ukraine was
done for two main reasons. The first was that Ukraine itself belonged to Russia,
and the people who lived there identified as Russian. This obviously isn’t true, as the
world recognizes Ukraine as a sovereign nation, and the fact that Ukrainian citizens have been
fighting to free their country from Russian forces for over a year proves that they do
not want to be part of Putin’s delusion. The second reason why Putin claims he
invaded Ukraine is what we mentioned before. The Russian dictator has argued that
NATO is expanding too close to Russia and therefore posing a security risk to the nation.
Therefore, to stop the encroachment of NATO, Russia had to invade Ukraine to protect itself.
This is clearly the ravings of a lunatic, but to be fair, Ukraine was becoming
increasingly Westernized and looking to cultivate closer relationships with Europe
and other Western nations. But regardless of what Ukraine’s geopolitical stance was,
Putin had no right to invade the country. This is what made Finland nervous in the first
place. Vladimir Putin has continually talked about forming a new Russian Empire, and since
Finland was once a part of an old Russian empire, the Kremlin’s actions were a real cause for
concern. In the early stages of the War in Ukraine, when Russia looked like it might
be able to secure Kyiv and annex at least part of its territory, Finland went on high
alert. If Putin was successful in Ukraine, he would likely try to invade Finland too. So, for now, we know that Putin is scared that
Finland’s NATO membership will bring the military alliance closer to Russian borders. One of Putin’s
main goals for invading Ukraine was to ensure that NATO access to Russian borders was restricted to
the 754 miles or 1,213 kilometers between Norway, eastern Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Lithuania.
With Finland’s admittance into the organization, its 830-mile or 1335-kilometer
border with Russia has more than doubled the border length that NATO
countries now share with Russia. This is the single largest blow to Putin
besides how much of a failure his invasion of Ukraine has been. And as we will explain
in a bit, the extension of NATO's border with Russia via Finland could cripple the nation as
some key strategic and economic hubs are now under direct threat. This, along with several
other assets that Finland brings to the table, could spell the end to any type of Russian
dominance in the region. NATO is no longer afraid of Putin, and now that Finland
is officially part of the organization, it may only be a matter of time before Vladamir
Putin loses complete control of his country. But before we examine each aspect of Finland’s
acceptance into NATO and how it's bad news for Russia, let's go back in time. Finland
has never gotten along with Russia, which happens when a brutal foreign power
takes over your country. How did Finland get to where it is today, and how has
Russia left such a lasting scar on the nation that it was willing to give up its
neutrality in exchange for extra protection? Like every part of the world, the history of
Finland is long and complicated. In the 1100s, the Finnish people were subjugated during
the Swedish crusades and converted to Christianity. For the next 700 years, there
were wars and different rulers in the region, but in 1808 Russia invaded Sweden with
the support of Napoleon. As a result, Finland was ceded to Russia but surprisingly
got to retain its own legal system and religion, while its citizens didn’t have
to serve in the Russian military. Then in 1899, relations between Russia and
Finland started to go south. Tsar Nicholas II pursued policies to force the Russification
of Finland. Basically, he wanted to wipe out the Finish culture and force everyone to embrace
the Russian way of life. This evidently didn’t go over well, and the Finns started to protest
and fight back against the policies. In 1917 the Russian Revolution started to fracture
the empire. Finland took this opportunity to declare their independence. However, they
would only be free from the oppressive Russian rule for a few decades before the Red
Army came knocking at their door once again. When World War II erupted in Europe, Finland
declared that it would remain neutral. Even still, the Soviet Union took advantage of the chaos
and invaded Finland in 1939, starting the Winter War. The Finnish Army put up stiff resistance.
However, they were overwhelmed by the Red Army and were forced to sign The Treaty of Moscow,
giving the Soviet Union control of about 10% of Finland’s territory. With the help of the
Nazis, Finland launched an offensive against the Soviet Union to reclaim its territory. But when
Germany started to lose the war, Soviet forces came back with a vengeance and forced Finland
to give up more land and pay war reparations. Once again, during the Cold War,
Finland claimed it would remain neutral, and no nuclear missiles or forces from
either the Soviets or the United States would be allowed within its borders. However,
in the 1950s, Finland started to become closer to Western nations even though the Soviet
Union warned against such actions. By 1995 Finland became a member of the European Union,
solidifying its connection to Western powers. The first steps towards Finland breaking
away from neutrality began in 2016 when its government signed a defense collaboration
agreement with the United States. This was a direct result of Russia increasing military
activities in the Baltic Sea and annexing Crimea. It was at this time that Finland really
started to become concerned with Vladimir Putin's actions and warned other Western powers of
the very real threat that Russia posed. This brings us to the present day, where Russia has
invaded Ukraine and Finland has joined NATO. It has been clear throughout history that
Russia has either fully incorporated Finland into its borders or at least seen them as
a country whose land they can steal. So, it’s no surprise that when Putin started
to become even more aggressive in 2022, Finland decided to break its
neutrality pact and join NATO. But what does Finland joining NATO change
things, and why is it such a bad thing for Putin? Now that Finland is a part of the organization,
it means that if Putin or any other power tries to attack them, the entire might of the U.S.
and every other military in NATO will come to their aid. This is because of Article 5 in
the NATO agreement. Finland no longer needs to worry about amassing enough troops or building
enough weapons to combat Russia alone. Yes, Finland’s military is still powerful and likely
could hold its own against a Russin invasion, but now they don’t need to dump tons
of money into their military in fear that they might have to fight
off an invasion force one day. Also, now that Finland is a part of NATO, their
forces will become fully integrated into the organization’s training and planning programs.
This will allow for better cooperation between Finnish soldiers and other NATO militaries. The
superior training and cooperation only strengthen the Finnish military while allowing them to
work in alignment with other military forces. But we must remember that Finland was already
participating in NATO exercised as a partner state. It was actually a pre-requisite for
joining the organization that Finland needed to ensure their military could integrate current
NATO technology and practices. So, for years, Finland had been aligning its military to NATO
standards. They purchased U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets, German-designed Leopard tanks, and K9
Howitzers used by Norway and Estonia. Therefore, when Finland needed to join NATO for extra
protection from Russia, they were good to go. The crazy part is that Putin watched
this all happen. He must have known that Finland would jump the neutrality ship
and join NATO if he became aggressive, and that’s exactly what happened. There is
the possibility that Putin thought everyone, including Finland, was too scared to risk
upsetting him. But after major defeats in Ukraine and Russia’s inability to effectively
fight the war, it became apparent that Russia wasn’t nearly as powerful as Putin portrayed
it to be. However, before it became clear just how disjointed and ineffective the Russian
military was, Finland applied to join NATO. This was almost an inevitability even
if Russia hadn’t invaded Ukraine, as Putin’s expansionist rhetoric brought back
cultural memories of Finland being subjugated by Russian regimes in the past. But when
Finland officially announced it would drop its neutral policies in favor of NATO
protection, it was very bad news for Putin. And Finland joining NATO isn’t just a one-way
street. The country has a lot to offer to the alliance. For example, it’s generally agreed
that Finland’s artillery forces are not only the largest but the best equipped in all of
Europe. This is out of a necessity because of their large border with a belligerent neighbor. In
fact, Finland has somewhere around 1,500 artillery weapons made up of 700 Howitzer guns, 700 heavy
mortars, and 100 rocket launcher systems. This means that the Finnish army has more artillery
than Poland, Germany, Norway, and Sweden combined. This also means that the new stretch of the
Russian-NATO border is already well-defended, which was definitely a plus when Finland was
brought on board as it meant other nations didn’t need to immediately send artillery
and defensive equipment to Finland. Plus, Finland's large artillery force
could be incredibly beneficial in fortifying the borders of
other countries in the future. Finland also brings strong cyber security
tech to the table. The tech giant Nokia is based in Finland and is a major provider of 5G
infrastructure worldwide. This means Finland is on the cutting edge of communication
infrastructure and has the ability to improve NATO's cyber security. It’s not clear
exactly how Finland’s advanced cybersecurity will be integrated into NATO practices,
but one thing is for sure: in the future, cyber warfare will undoubtedly play a pivotal
role in the way militaries wage battle. Then there is the obvious benefit of the soldiers
that Finland provides to the NATO alliance. Since military service is mandatory in Finland, it
means that the nation currently has 280,000 troops ready to go at this very moment. However, if Finland ever needed to mobilize its
reserves, it would have around 900,000 trained men and women ready to take up arms
in a conflict against a potential enemy. We mentioned before that there were two holdouts
when it came to ratifying Finland into the NATO alliance. It’s worth looking briefly at why
this was the case and why Vladamir Putin was hoping that these issues would not be resolved
quickly. It was clear to the Russian dictator that if Finland joined NATO, he would have an
unstoppable enemy force at his doorstep. This is one of the reasons why Finland's acceptance
into NATO terrified him. However, if Turkey and Hungary refused to vote Finland into NATO,
Putin would have slightly less to worry about. When Finland and Sweden announced their
applications to join NATO, a large majority of the nations in the organization immediately voted them
in. This was because of the strategic significance of both countries, but particularly Finland, held
in the region. However, Turkey refused to ratify the two countries until some concessions were
made. Turkey had more of a problem with Sweden, but Finland seemed to be guilty by association.
A lot of the contention had to do with how the Kurdish people were being treated and the refusal
of Nordic countries to sell Turkey weapons. The Turkish government said it would only vote to
accept Sweden and Finland into the organization if they extradited several Kurdistan Workers
Party or PKK terrorist members back to Turkey and publicly disavow the PKK itself. Obviously,
they also wanted both countries to remove their weapons bans as well. Both Sweden and Finland
agreed to extradite the terrorists they were holding. Finland also lifted its arms embargo
on Turkey to improve the relations between the two nations. On March 30, 2023, Turkey
approved Finland's petition to join NATO. Hungary’s objection to the admittance of
Finland was more just about politics than anything else. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
stated that both Sweden and Finland had been spreading slanderous lies about the
state of Hungarian democracy. Basically, until they publicly apologized
and met with Hungarian leaders, Hungary refused to vote for their acceptance into
NATO. Obrán stated: “It’s not right for Sweden and Finland to ask us to take them on board while
they’re spreading blatant lies about Hungary, about the rule of law in Hungary, about democracy,
about life here.” However, after diplomatic talks, Hungary agreed to move forward with their vote
to accept Finland into NATO on March 27, 2023. After Hungary and Turkey voted for Finland to join
the organization, Putin was in big trouble. All of his worst nightmares were coming true. It
was now only a matter of time before Finland was officially part of NATO, and there was nothing
he could do about it. Even if he wanted to launch a last-ditch effort to stop the acceptance of
Finland into the organization through warfare, he just didn’t have the men or resources
to do so, as most of Russia’s military is still desperately trying to hold the
little territory they control in Ukraine. The acceptance of Finland into NATO also set a
precedent for other countries that might have tried to remain neutral. Putin’s aggressive
actions meant that foreign policy norms and international sanctions would not always work
to deter an aggressor. Now that Finland has become a part of NATO, Putin likely fears other
nations may try to also join the alliance. There is very little chance that even Putin would
be crazy enough to invade a NATO country, as the repercussions would be devastating. Russia and
all of its allies would not be able to defeat NATO forces unless they used nuclear weapons, which
would pretty much end the world, and there is perhaps only one other dictator who is willing to
go that far. We’re talking about you, Kim Jong-un. So, now Putin is afraid of NATO forces being
close enough to attack major Russian cities from Finland and that other nations might also
seek an alliance with his biggest enemy. There is also the fact that there will be
an even larger NATO presence in the Nordic region. As a result Russian naval
operations in the Baltic Sea may become riskier. Putin is concerned about what this
could mean for important strategic military assets stationed on the Kola Peninsula, which
sits along the northern border of Finland. It’s here that Russia’s Northern Fleet is
stationed along with ballistic submarines that are part of Russia’s second-strike nuclear
capabilities. With increased NATO forces in the region, everything from Russian naval ships to
aircraft operating in the area will be under closer surveillance and could be more easily dealt
with if a conflict ever did arise. Putin also knows that as his conventional forces continue
to be depleted in Ukraine, Russia will have to rely more heavily on nuclear deterrents and its
Navy to protect its borders and maintain power. There is also the fact that Russia has been
planning to use the Northern Sea Route to boost economic trade and movement of goods.
However, Finland’s admittance to NATO now means that more naval ships from other
countries, such as the U.S. or Britain, could be stationed in the area and threaten
Russian naval dominance in the far north. Hypothetically, having NATO naval bases
and an increased regional presence could allow blockades to hit the Russian economy
hard. In essence, NATO now has the ability to cut off St. Petersburg and other northern
Russian ports from the rest of the world. Then, of course, Putin is scared about a
future military build-up. Finland refused to allow foreign missiles on their soil
for a long time. Now, NATO can deploy operational-tactical missile complexes across
Finland, allowing them to strike key targets in Russia more accurately and at a moment’s
notice. Precision strikes could be launched from Finland to cripple Russian infrastructure
and transportation networks, which has Vladamir Putin fuming. On top of that, more NATO aircraft
will be stationed closer to Russian borders and could be launched into Russian airspace with
incredible speed and devastating capabilities. The bottom line is now that Finland is a part
of NATO, the organization poses a much larger immediate threat to Putin’s authority. The United
States and its allies can police the region more effectively and keep Russia in check. Vladimir
Putin hates anything that stifles his power, and Finland successfully joining NATO may
be the biggest threat he’s ever faced. This brings us to the question:
what will Vladamir Putin do now? He has warned that the acceptance of Finland
into NATO will force him to take “retaliatory measures.” It’s unclear what this means
and if Russian forces are capable of doing anything besides losing the war in Ukraine.
Putin has claimed that NATO deploying troops to Finland would only destabilize the region
and threaten the stability of the world in a plea to try and gather support against
NATO forces being stationed closer to Russian borders. But this has been wholly
unsuccessful and likely would have worked better if Russia had never invaded its
neighbor. But hindsight is always 20-20. Putin and the rest of the Russian
leaders claim that Finland joining NATO was done to spread anti-Russian
sentiment to more countries. However, NATO didn’t really need any help doing that after
the way Putin has been conducting himself over the past several years. The proclamations
by the Kremlin to mobilize more troops and deploy more weapons along the Finish-Russian
border are little more than empty threats as Russia just doesn’t have the military assets to
spare at the moment. So, instead, Putin has been using harsh words and posturing to try and seem
strong during a time when he is becoming weaker and weaker. Because if we’re honest, losing
power is what Vladamir Putin is most afraid of. And unfortunately for the Russian dictator, the
bad news keeps on coming. On the same day that Finland was admitted into NATO, Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky was invited to join NATO’s July summit in Lithuania.
On top of that, European leaders arrived in Bejing to speak with President Xi Jinping
about the war in Ukraine and trade relations. If these talks result in China either dialing
back its support for Russia or lessening its economic and military aid, it could be the
beginning of the end for Vladamir Putin. Even though China has continued to support Russia, it needs to maintain positive relations with
Europe as the E.U. is one of its biggest trade partners and much more important to the
Chinese economy than Russia is. Therefore, these meetings might result in a powerful blow
to one of Russia’s only remaining lifelines. Vladimir Putin is in a rough spot. Finland
joining NATO is just another consequence of his War in Ukraine and will likely result in an
even weaker Russia in the future. And perhaps the biggest slap in the face for Putin was summed up
by Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he said: “this is the one thing we can thank Mr. Putin
for,” referring to Finland joining NATO. Because he’s right. Vladimir Putin was so sure he had
the most powerful military in the world. He was sure that his forces could easily overtake
Ukraine and that his rule would be welcomed with open arms. He was sure that no one would stand
up to him. And now he can’t be sure of anything. When Finnish President Sauli Niinisto spoke
during the induction ceremony, he stated: “The era of nonalignment in our history has
come to an end — a new era begins.” This new era will likely result in a weakened Russia and
Vladamir Putin struggling to maintain his power. Now watch “The Dumb Reason Russia Is Losing The
War.” Or check out “Russia and China vs. NATO.”
