# Finland and Sweden appear poised for entry to NATO {2022-05-12} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** ukraine-invasion, breaking-news\ **Created:** [May 13, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350 "2022-05-13T03:38:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/121 "2024-02-29T02:03:16Z")
May be his reasoning went something like this: Finland and Sweden may not be formally part of NATO but if push comes to shove they’ll probably join any NATO effort, may be even formally join (as we see it happening now) Ukraine is about to go that way too, I can’t do anything about Finland and Sweden but I can force Ukraine out of the NATO-joining path, be it by ultimatum or outright force. I think the very menace of Russian forces in the border ready to act if Ukraine tried to join NATO, plus NATO’s reluctance to allow members with ongoing territorial disputes (Like Donets and Crimea) would’ve been enough to keep Ukraine out of NATO without any (more) extreme measures on Russia’s part. But may be Putin had different intelligence about that… ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/122 "2024-02-29T02:09:15Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > But may be Putin had different intelligence about that… I think the only thing in Putin’s mind was the megalomaniac idea of recreating the old USSR with him as the Supreme Leader. And beyond that, taking all of Europe. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/123 "2024-02-29T04:21:16Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Which might well have been accurate if it had worked, but the whole knock-Ukraine-out-quickly thing didn’t quite materialize. _Everybody’s got a plan until they get hit in the mouth_ or more formally _No plan survives contact with the enemy intact_ If your plan does not take into account the other side’s reaction you don’t really have a plan after all. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/124 "2024-03-07T18:31:46Z")
Final step completed for Sweden: > **[Sweden is a NATO member](https://www.government.se/press-releases/2024/03/sweden-is-a-nato-member/)** > > Just before 17.30 CET, Sweden’s instrument of accession was deposited with the United States Government, as depositary of the North Atlantic Treaty... And Finland was already admitted: > [@Finland and Sweden appear poised for entry to NATO {2022-05-12}](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/102): > > Bumping for good news: [https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/04/europe/finland-joins-nato-intl/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/04/europe/finland-joins-nato-intl/index.html) Thanks to @eschereal for posting in the Invasion thread. So both Finland and Sweden are now full members. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/125 "2024-03-07T20:48:50Z")
Putin needs to get acquainted with this word: # crapification (n.) when the ramifications of a certain decision will yield disastrous results of epic proportions. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/126 "2024-03-07T21:08:07Z")
I am waiting to see what the effect on Putin’s blood pressure would be when or if Ukraine and a westernized Belarus join NATO. (Don’t expect either to happen, but…) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/127 "2024-03-07T21:45:49Z")
Putin did, of course, invade the Crimea in 2015 with few significant consequences or lasting global outcry. Countries were not rushing to join NATO at this point. It is probably fortunate that the global reaction this time around was very different. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/128 "2024-03-07T21:52:40Z")
Here is a gift link explaining what the new changes mean in some geographic detail. (More Baltic Sea, Arctic and Northern Border exposure). > **[Four maps explain how Sweden and Finland alter NATO’s security](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/11/nato-sweden-finland-maps/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzA5Nzg3NjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzExMTY2Mzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MDk3ODc2MDAsImp0aSI6IjM0ZTAwMDVlLTQxNGUtNGYzMS1iM2I1LTY3ZGFlMjA5NWFiMiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS93b3JsZC8yMDIzLzA3LzExL25hdG8tc3dlZGVuLWZpbmxhbmQtbWFwcy8ifQ.S1d63_lcNPkmwHdaEgRbB2E3LBRzcUvh7FqOFhTUS6c&itid=gfta)** > > The countries also offer key geographic advantages, which would enhance NATO’s defenses. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350/129 "2024-03-07T21:53:41Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Putin did, of course, invade the Crimea in 2015 with few significant consequences or lasting global outcry. Hitler apparently thought something similar after taking the Rhineland, Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia with nothing worse than grumbling from the west. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finland-and-sweden-appear-poised-for-entry-to-nato-2022-05-12/964350.md?page=6)