Finland in NATO would “dramatically” change the security situation in the Baltic region, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Thursday, after Finnish leaders formally supported the country’s membership in the alliance.
“That changes the security situation in the Baltic region dramatically,” Landsbergis told reporters. “It is a huge strengthening of the Alliance and a huge strengthening of the Baltic region.”
“Finland is a very strong country militarily, an experienced country with a navy, with air defence elements,” he said. “Its recent acquisitions of F-35s from the US are a huge reinforcement for the Alliance.”[…]
Asked if additional NATO forces will have to be deployed to Finland after it becomes a member, Foreign Minister Landsbergis said that this would be decided at a later stage.
If it joins NATO, Finland will be the alliance’s longest border with Russia.
“NATO is getting stronger in our region. The question of whether additional forces are needed is apparently the only aspect that needs to be answered, because Finland has an extremely long border with Russia; it is now the longest border we have,” the minister said.
“It is difficult for me to say if additional forces are needed for this. We will probably hear about that later,” he added. Läs artikel