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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRussia warns Finland against joining NATO
Do Finland want to start World War III? It's something to think about if Finland wants to join NATO, warns Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal envoy Sergei Markov.
It's not Russian hatred against Finland, but if Finland joins NATO, it shows that the country has a Russia-complex, said Markov, who is a political scientist, to the newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet. If Finland wants to join NATO, they should think first . Will you join and start World War III? Anti-Semitism started World War II. Russofobien can start a third. Finland is one of the most russofobiske countries in Europe, after Sweden and the Baltic countries, says Markov to the Finnish newspaper.
He calls the Russofobi in Finnish media "despicable" and says he has stopped reading translations from Finnish media. He cites the phrase "this could lead to the Russian influence increases" as an example of what he calls Russofobi.
In the same interview Markov predicts that the eastern part of Ukraine, including Donetsk, Luhansk, Charkiv, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporozjie are going to form a new federation to be named Novorossija
http://norwaytoday.info/home_view.php?id=11410
pampango
(24,692 posts)belongs to the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Neither Finland nor any other country has the right to tell Russia that it cannot belong to it.
NATO has been around for 65 years and Finland has never joined it. It seems that there would have to be a popular referendum in Finland if it ever were to decide to join NATO. Perhaps Mr. Markov is just playing the 'fear card' with potential Finnish referendum voters.
Finland To Put NATO Membership to Referendum
Finlands electorate will ultimately decide whether Finland will join NATO. According to President Sauli Niinistö, the commander in chief of Finlands armed forces, a popular referendum would be needed before the Eduskunta is asked to ratify legal changes in the countrys constitutionally neutral status.
It is imperative that a comprehensive review of Finlands security take place before a decision is reached regarding Finlands position on joining NATO. The issue must have a national consensus, and a referendum required before a final decision could be made, Niinistö told Finnish public broadcaster YLE.
We do not need to be in NATO. Finlands security policy should be to strengthen and secure our long-term defense organization and national security through the EU, said Finlands Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.
Finland has the longest border of any Western European country [833 miles] with Russia. Joining NATO would bring more problems than it would solve, Tuomioja added, in a reference to how a decision by Finland to join the alliance might impact on the countrys future trade and security relationship with Russia.
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140605/DEFREG01/306050039/Finland-Put-NATO-Membership-Referendum
I doubt that Mr. Markov had any reservations about the residents of Crimea having a referendum on leaving Ukraine and joining Russia. Who knows whether Finland will ever have a national referendum on joining NATO, but I think they have the same right to do so as the Crimeans on the idea of joining Russia.
I am sure there were American hawks who opined that Russia was willing to start WWIII by annexing a part of Ukraine. Hawks (of any nationality) are quite willing to play the "you don't want to do that or it (we?) will start WWIII" card. It implies the use of military force to resolve an international issue - which is what being a hawk is all about.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)You didn't get that high up without being an ideologue. And Russia in all its incarnations always wanted to be an empire.
whistler162
(11,155 posts)Russofobia. Geepers you'd think being a province of Imperial Russia and then invaded multiple times by the USSR would have a calming effect on the Finns fear of Russia!