‘Whole security landscape’ changed with Russian invasion of Ukraine, say leaders at joint press conference
Finland and Sweden took a major step towards joining Nato on Wednesday, after their prime ministers said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had changed Europe’s “whole security landscape” and “dramatically shaped mindsets” in the Nordic countries.
Article 5, the 30-member alliance’s collective defence cornerstone, states that an attack on one Nato member is an attack on all. It has only been invoked once in the organisation’s history, in response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. “I think people’s mindsets in Finland, also in Sweden, changed and were shaped very dramatically by Russia’s actions,” Marin said. “This is very clear and that caused a need for a process in Finland to have a discussion about our own security choices.”
Both countries are officially non-aligned militarily, but became Nato partners – taking part in exercises and exchanging intelligence – after abandoning their previous stance of strict neutrality when they joined the EU in 1995 after the end of the cold war.
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