Posted on 06/28/2022 12:26:55 PM PDT by BeauBo
Turkey has agreed to support Finland's and Sweden's bids for NATO membership, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday (28 June).
"I am pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO," he told reporters on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Madrid.
"Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey's concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The Finnish border is about 100 miles from St. Petersburg - much closer than the Ukraine. Over 700 miles of shared border between Finland and Russia.
Sweden has a pretty advanced arms industry.
Why don’t we instead terminate NATO? Or, give NATO members a chance to provide equal funding or resources, else be kicked out of NATO? Why are we still wasting money with this and defending Europe?!
This is not going to sit well with Putin.....
Because Russia will not stop invading and threatening its neighbors.
“This is not going to sit well with Putin....”
He may pick up some chips seizing some offshore Ukrainian oil and gas fields, as well as in the Donbas, but Sweden and Finland joining NATO is a strategic failure for Putin.
There is huge potential for additional strategic economic and military failures as well, but it looks like the NATO expansion is now baked into the cake.
we should reconsider US membership
If you think vladolf putin will be discomforted by this development, wait to see how his knob-polishers here on FR handle it...
The way the war is going for Ukraine and the self-imposed lack of energy for Europe, I doubt that there’s a NATO within a year. Russia will likely see to that as the price for accessing their energy (and other resources).
And how is any of that the business of the U.S? Europe is fully capable of handling Russia, or do I need a lecture about the 30’s?
And since Europe won’t pay for their own defense, why should we care?
I guess the suitcase with dollars made it to Ankara.
It’s because of the thirties that we’ve had to be there for eighty years.
And surprisingly, we aren’t there because Germany was acting poorly.
Perhaps because we tried it your way (no NATO) twice and it turned out badly both times. Add to that further experiences with Russia's desire for global conquest which apparently did not die with the Soviet Union.
LOL, "no NATO within a year". Putin has proven to every country why NATO membership is essential.
Analysis: Neutral Switzerland leans closer to NATO in response to Russia
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/neutral-switzerland-leans-closer-nato-response-russia-2022-05-15/
I learned from the Turks that bribes don’t exist in their country; they are merely ‘tips’ for exceptional service.
Apparently so. The fundamental weakness of Europe isn't economic. It's political, and despite all the theater of the EU, the major countries (and many smaller ones) still jockey for their own advantage, making coherent, credible defense almost impossible without the US acting as primus inter pares.
And it's very much in our interest not to allow Europe's economy and technical know-how to be put in the service of Russia, or China, or both.
Because we think we are still a superpower.
You heard the famous dictum “those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it”?
History tells us ancient empires met their demise by over-extending their military in foreign lands.
Latest example is Hitler’s Germany sending military deep inside Russia.
Here is the sad truth, no one can be a superpower with debt bigger than GDP. Currently our national debt is 35% bigger than GDP.
NATO 30 member states - Ukraine = 30 member states
NATO 30 member states + Finland + Sweden = 32 member states
NATO wins
Putin loses
Excellent!
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