#finland joins nato

[tomorrowusa]

Welcome to Finland!  🇫🇮 Tervetuloa!

Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, in part, to weaken NATO. However his war of aggression actually showed Western democracies that they need to stick together to maintain their sovereignty and freedom.

Finnish security expert Henri Vanhanen told DW that the invasion of Ukraine last year marked a start of a new era.

"The masks have been removed and we sort of see the real face of Putin right now," he said. "And I think in the foreseeable future, it will be difficult to see a sort of return to any sort of normal relationship with the Russians, at least as long as the current administration is in place."

Exactly. If Russia wishes to be treated like a normal country it needs to start acting like a normal country.

Russia did not experience decommunization after the collapse of Communism the way Germany went through denazification after World War II. Putin is a creature of the old régime who has been trying to restore the decrepit Soviet empire.

Finland's accession came as NATO foreign ministers met at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels for a two-day summit to discuss the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The meeting coincides with the 74th anniversary of the alliance's founding in 1949.

[ ... ]

Achieving ratification in well under a year still makes Finland's membership process the fastest in the alliance's recent history.

Sweden’s next.

Membership for Sweden is still dependent on Turkish ratification due to several sticking points, but Stoltenberg pointed out that  "Sweden will also be safer as a result" of Finland's membership. He added that he expected Sweden would be able to join soon.

It’s countries which have suffered because of Russian imperialism over the past century which have been the most eager to join NATO this century.

Last year Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine was the last straw for previously neutral Finland. It reminded Finns of The Winter War of 1939-1940 when Stalin thought he could roll through Finland.

Rachel Maddow’s piece on Finland from April of 2022 tells a bit about the history of relations between Russia and Finland.

The only two major things which have changed since that report: 1] Finland is now a NATO member, 2] Sweden has had a change in government – though its policy regarding NATO and Russia remains unchanged.

[sportswearworldwide]

Finland Joins Nato, Big Blow To Putin

Finland today is the world’s largest security alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organization Joined (NATO), which is considered a big blow for Russia. The sound of this historical event was being heard since the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With the handing over of the documents, the Nordic nation officially became a member of the world’s largest security alliance. Finland’s membership…

[ulkoilla]

Let’s finally join the cultural west, it was said. Let’s say our final goodbyes for Finlandization, it was said. Let’s free ourselves from self-censorship; let’s join NATO so we shall never need to compromise our western values again! The reality: Turkey: You need to give us these terrorists [such as journalists who think and write Wrong things] or we won’t ratify Turkey: You need to lift these restrictions on arms export [placed in 2019 when Turkey attacked Syria] Turkey: These protests your citizens are having are not nice. We warn you against tolerating such protests! The attendees are terrorists! Turkey: This caricature of the president is not fun. This is not doing good for our relations. Mmmmyes. This is going about as well as expected (By which I don’t mean to say we shouldn’t attempt to join NATO, as there is what was called ~*~geopolitical reasons~*~ for many years. But this feels quite familiar, and not in a good way)

[lehdenlaulu]

By the way, Finland is now finally fully ratified to join NATO.

Congrats, you just got a new 1300km border with NATO, Vladimir.

[i-merani]

Soo im not particularly happy with finnish election results…

[moomoorare]

I was slurping my minestrone what do you mean trump is arrested and in court

[niveditaabaidya]

Finland Will Join Coalition Sending Tanks. #tanks #finland #europe #eu #...

[patchoulism]

Have you noticed that in the period from the moment Finland announced her intent to join NATO on 15 May 2022 and the moment Finland got accepted into NATO on 4 April 2023, russia haven't attacked or flied even a single suicide drone or missile to Finland?

This factoid doesn's stop dumb fuckheads from denying that current russian invasion in Ukraine is about imperialism and genociding Ukrainians, they keep saying that it's about NATO membership.

[liberalsarecool]

Sweden joins NATO because of Russian agression and invasion of Ukraine. Same with Finland last year.

Republicans side with Russia.

This election is more than one issue. #VoteBlue

[mariacallous]

With Donald Trump’s election win fueling fresh speculation over the prospects for a negotiated settlement to the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again underlined his insistence on Ukrainian neutrality. “If there is no neutrality, it is difficult to imagine any good-neighborly relations between Russia and Ukraine,” he commented on November 7 in Sochi.

This is nothing new. Since the eve of the full-scale invasion, the Kremlin has been consistent in its calls for permanent Ukrainian neutrality. Neutral status was a key condition set out by the Kremlin during the abortive peace talks that took place in the first weeks of the war. It once again featured prominently when Putin laid out an updated peace proposal in June 2024.

Many in the international community regard Putin’s push for a neutral Ukraine as by far his most reasonable demand. Indeed, some have even accused NATO of provoking the current war by expanding into Russia’s traditional sphere of influence since 1991 and deepening cooperation with Ukraine. They argue that if Ukraine can be kept in geopolitical no-man’s-land, Russia will be placated.

Such thinking is likely to feature prominently as the debate continues to unfold in the coming months over the terms of a future peace deal. While Trump has yet to outline his plans for a possible settlement, unconfirmed reports suggest that a twenty-year freeze on Ukraine’s NATO membership aspirations is under consideration. This would be a costly blunder. Imposing neutrality on Ukraine will not bring about a durable peace in Europe. On the contrary, it would leave Ukraine at Putin’s mercy and set the stage for a new Russian invasion.

Ukrainians have already learned the hard way that neutrality does not protect them against Russian aggression. The country officially embraced non-aligned status during the 2010-2014 presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, but this didn’t prevent Moscow from seeking to reassert full control over Ukraine. Initially, Russia’s efforts focused on orchestrating Ukraine’s economic reintegration through membership of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union. When this sparked a popular backlash that led to the fall of the Yanukovych regime, Putin opted to use force and began the military invasion of Ukraine.

Ever since the start of Russia’s attack on Ukraine in spring 2014, Putin has sought to justify Russian aggression by pointing to the looming danger of Ukrainian NATO membership. In reality, however, Ukraine has never looked like progressing toward the distant goal of joining the alliance. For the past decade, NATO leaders have refused to provide Kyiv with an invitation and have instead limited themselves to vague talk of Ukraine’s “irreversible” path toward future membership. Putin is well aware of this, but has chosen to wildly exaggerate Ukraine’s NATO prospects in order to strengthen his own bogus justifications.

Putin’s complaints regarding NATO enlargement are equally dubious. Indeed, his own actions since early 2022 indicate that Putin himself does not actually believe that the alliance poses a genuine security threat to Russia. Instead, he merely exploits the NATO issue as a convenient smokescreen for Russia’s expansionist foreign policy.

Tellingly, when Finland and Sweden responded to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine by announcing plans to abandon decades of neutrality and join NATO, Putin was quick to declare that Russia had “no problem” with the move. This evident indifference was particularly striking, given that Finnish NATO membership has more than doubled Russia’s NATO border while Sweden’s accession has transformed the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake. Over the past two-and-a-half years, Putin has continued to demonstrate his almost complete lack of concern over NATO’s Nordic enlargement by withdrawing the vast majority of Russian troops from the Finnish border and leaving the area largely undefended.

Putin obviously understands perfectly well that NATO is not a threat to Russia itself, and sees no need to guard against a NATO invasion that he knows will never come. While Putin’s resentment over the expanding NATO presence on his borders is real enough, he only really objects when the alliance prevents Russia from bullying its neighbors. In other words, Putin’s opposition to Ukraine’s NATO aspirations has nothing to do with legitimate security concerns. Instead, it confirms that his ultimate goal is the destruction of Ukrainian statehood.

For years, Putin has made no secret of his belief that the emergence of an independent Ukraine is an historical mistake and a symbol of modern Russia’s retreat from empire. He has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine is not a “real country,” and is fond of declaring that Ukrainians are actually Russians (“one people”). In July 2021, Putin even published an entire essay arguing against the legitimacy of an independent Ukrainian state.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, it has become increasingly apparent that Putin’s ultimate goal is not Ukraine’s neutrality but Ukraine’s destruction. The Kremlin propaganda machine has portrayed Ukraine as an intolerable “anti-Russia,” and has promoted the idea that Ukraine’s continued existence is incompatible with Russian security. Meanwhile, Putin has compared his invasion to eighteenth century Russian ruler Peter the Great’s imperial conquests, and has repeatedly claimed to be “returning” historically Russian lands.

Putin’s imperialistic outbursts must be taken seriously. Throughout occupied Ukraine, his soldiers and administrators are already imposing a reign of terror that directly echoes the criminal logic of his imperial fantasies. Millions have been displaced, with thousands more simply vanishing into a vast network of camps and prisons. Those who remain face policies of relentless Russification and the suppression of all things Ukrainian. Adults must accept Russian citizenship in order to access basic services, while children are forced to undergo indoctrination in schools teaching a new Kremlin curriculum.

The crimes currently taking place in Russian-occupied Ukraine are a clear indication of what awaits the rest of the country if Putin succeeds. Despite suffering multiple military setbacks, he remains fully committed to his maximalist goals of ending Ukrainian independence and erasing Ukrainian identity.

Furthermore, since 2022 Putin has demonstrated that he is prepared to wait as long as it takes in order to overcome Ukrainian resistance, and is ready to pay almost any price to achieve his imperial ambitions. Imposing neutrality on Ukraine in such circumstances would be akin to condemning the country to a slow but certain death.

Any peace process that fails to provide Ukraine with credible long-term security guarantees is doomed to fail. Acquiescing to Putin’s demands for a neutral Ukraine may provide some short-term relief from the menace of an expansionist Russia, but this would ultimately lead to more war and the likely collapse of the current global security order. There is simply no plausible argument for insisting on Ukrainian neutrality other than a desire to leave the country defenseless and at Russia’s mercy.

Peace will only come once Putin has finally been forced to accept Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent country and as a member of the democratic world. Naturally, this includes the right to choose security alliances. It is absurd to prioritize Russia’s insincere security concerns over Ukraine’s very real fears of national annihilation. Instead, if serious negotiations do begin in the coming months, Ukrainian security must be the number one priority. Until Ukraine is secure, Europe will remain insecure and the threat of Russian imperialism will continue to loom over the continent.

[afeelgoodblog]

1. New Jersey Governor Declares State a 'Safe Haven' for Gender-Affirming Care

New Jersey’s Democratic governor has a message for the LGBTQ+ community. He issued an executive order on Tuesday indicating that, unlike in some Republican-controlled states, New Jersey is open and welcoming to everybody regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. In addition, he says New Jersey is a “safe haven” for those seeking gender-affirming care.

2. Watch Ocean Cleanup remove the 200,000th kilogram of plastic from the Pacific Ocean

3. Finland becomes 31st member of NATO, doubling the alliance's border with Russia

Finland has become the 31st member of the Nato security alliance, doubling the length of member states' borders with Russia.The Finnish foreign minister handed the accession document to the US secretary of state who declared Finland a member.

Then in bright sunshine in front of Nato's gleaming new headquarters, Finland's white-and-blue flag joined a circle of 30 other flags.Finland's accession is a setback for Russia's Vladimir Putin. He had repeatedly complained of Nato's expansion before his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

4. Captive orca Lolita set for release into 'home waters' after 50 years at Miami Seaquarium

The killer whale known as Lolita appears one step closer to returning to its natural habitat of the Pacific Northwest, after performing at a Miami tourist attraction for decades. It was taken from the ocean in 1970. But after a long-running dispute over where Lolita belongs, officials from various parties announced Thursday a "binding agreement" to take Lolita -- also known as Tokitae or Toki -- to its "home waters."

"Lolita will receive the highest quality care as the team works to make relocation possible in the next 18 to 24 months," Miami Seaquarium said in a statement Thursday.

5. Nature prescriptions shown to reduce blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and loneliness

A new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health suggests that nature prescriptions, which recommend spending time in nature, can provide both physical and mental health benefits. Patients who followed these prescriptions had reduced blood pressure, lower depression and anxiety scores, and a higher daily step count.

Research shows that contact with nature reduces harms, including those from poor air quality, heatwaves, and chronic stress, while encouraging healthy behaviours such as socialising and physical activity. This can help to prevent issues including loneliness, depression and cardiovascular disease.

6. Library Receives Flood Of Donations For Beloved Cat

The Ashville Free Library recently began a fundraiser to help pay for the aging cat’s veterinary care. After a story on Libby was published, donations to the library poured in. Director Kristina Benson called the community response overwhelming. As of Thursday, more than $2,900 had been raised.

Benson reported that Libby, the cat — who has recently been suffering from a cold — is now doing much better now that she has her medicine. Benson expects to keep the GoFundMe up until sometime next week.

7. Mother and baby reunited in Turkey nearly two months after earthquake

A mother has been reunited with her baby in southern Turkey after a DNA test confirmed it was her daughter, almost two months after the devastating earthquake, the country's family ministry said.

The three-and-a-half-month old "miracle baby", called Vetin, was pulled out of the rubble of a building in the province of Hatay more than five days after the Feb. 6 quake with no health problems.

----

That's it for this week :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog

[homunculus-argument]

If you've never encountered European meme culture, there's currently drama going on because Sweden won the annual Eurovision song context with a song that everyone agreed wasn't as good as Finland's contestant, and people are arguing that the jury vote was fixed because Finland would have won by a landslide if only the countries' own votes had been counted. Swedes are salty about the fact that nobody's celebrating their victory when everyone else seems to be in the agreement that Finland's rapper with a bowl cut and the most flamboyant possible neon green outfit should have won.

Finland also recently joined NATO after being indesicive about the matter for several decades. Sweden and Finland had a pact that if one of them joins NATO, the other one does as well, we go together or not at all. Sweden's application is still pending, and I just saw someone make a meme responding to Sweden's Eurovision contest complaints with "you're talking mad shit for someone within Article 5 distance."

[satwcomic]

World Wrestling

Welcome to NATO, Finland.

Just a little something to celebrate Finland joining NATO. And we hadn't seen Special Lion in a while.

-

🎀 For a limited time we're doing commissions, which you can order here.

[yourreddancer]

The terrifying perils of appeasing a warlike Russia

THE ECONOMIST

Finland’s cold-war past offers urgent lessons for Ukraine’s future

Nov 16th 2024

IN BARRACKS SQUARE in old Helsinki stands an unusual monument to a war. A towering sculpture of a soldier’s winter snowsuit, its polished steel body is pierced with large round holes, as if still standing after a strafing by cannon fire. It is Finland’s national memorial to the winter war of 1939-40. During that conflict, Finnish troops withstood a huge Soviet force for 105 days, inflicting heavy casualties on the invaders before succumbing to the Red Army’s larger numbers. The Soviet Union imposed harsh terms, taking 10% of its neighbour’s territory. Peace proved fragile, and Finland was soon swept up into the second world war, fighting with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Red Army from 1941-44.

Unveiled in 2017, the memorial’s message is more timely than ever. The winter war has new resonance for Finns. Their country has known 80 years of peace. It boasts one of Europe’s most capable armies, backed by extensive military service for young men and large reserves. Yet even after ditching decades of neutrality to join NATO in April 2023, Finland remains haunted by Russia, its former imperial ruler and neighbour along a 1,340km shared border. “When Russia attacked Ukraine it was as if Finland’s wars were happening yesterday,” says a member of Finland’s tight-knit establishment. Indeed, this old hand worries about younger Finns being “too bold” in denouncing Russia. Membership of the European Union and NATO is all very well. But Finland is a small country whose fate has often been decided by great powers, and Russia will always be there. “We know that the big guys can always agree things above our head. We can always be alone.”

This is a moment for all Europe to ponder that memorial in a Helsinki square. For that battered, but still-recognisable uniform—hollow and headless, with the sky visible through its many holes—presents an important question. What can a country afford to lose, and what must it preserve, and still be true to itself? …