Looks like Finland will apply for NATO membership.

[Mik]

We are really going through the looking glass here. Now Putin says NATO expansion is no big deal - no threat to Russia.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/putin-sees-no-threat-from-nato-expansion-warns-against-military-build-up/ar-AAXjVyC?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=0adad094ec7b4f59ba6acc0c2cc14fe2

[Jolly]

@Renauda said in Looks like Finland will apply for NATO membership.:

@Catseye3

My spouse has a theory that all this would have been gamed out beforehand and that Putin will now proceed to launch a internal blood purge to rid the country of imagined enemies of the people reminiscent of Stalin.

It is plausible and he may attempt such at the top but I doubt that it would be without concerted and determined opposition from within unlike the 1930’s.

How very Russian...

[Renauda]

@Jolly said in Looks like Finland will apply for NATO membership.:

@Renauda said in Looks like Finland will apply for NATO membership.:

Turkey has now stated it will not block either Finland or Sweden from becoming NATO members.

Putin wanted less NATO as a war aim and is now getting even more NATO than he ever imagined.

All I can say is, sad Christmas for Putin.

Wonder what the Turks got in return?

Apparently not enough baksheesh:

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/16/russia-finland-sweden-nato-ukraine-war

Bastards.

[George K]

@Renauda said in Looks like Finland will apply for NATO membership.:

Bastards.

Interesting , and sad.

Not surprising, though. Turkey's always been a wild-card in all this BS.

I have to agree and wonder what pressure was applied by Putin vs the rest of NATO in getting to this point.

[Mik]

Not really surprising if you look at Turkey’s always precarious geographic position.

[Renauda]

@George-K

Erdogan may yet change his mind, again. Curious though that he waited this long to express his concerns. More baksheesh might calm his mind.

[George K]

@Renauda said in Looks like Finland will apply for NATO membership.:

Erdogan may yet change his mind, again.

He's been quite the wild card, hasn't he? Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[jon-nyc]

So hint that we might kick Turkey out of NATO.

[Axtremus]

“Can Turkey be Expelled from NATO?”

https://www.justsecurity.org/66574/can-turkey-be-expelled-from-nato/

That’s from 2019. As it is, NATO currently does not have a procedure to expel a member state.

[jon-nyc]

Easy. All the other countries leave NATO and join SCHNATO, but don’t let Turkey join. SCHNATO has all the same characteristics of NATO except the Turks and maybe the Hungarians aren’t allowed to join. Finit.

[jon-nyc]

Might also allow Russia to declare victory saying they destroyed NATO!

[Renauda]

@jon-nyc

Well now, that solves everything.

[George K]

[Mik]

I love the idiots who are saying to kick Turkey out. I'm not sure there's a more geographically strategic country in the whole group.

[Renauda]

[George K]

@Renauda said in Looks like Finland will apply for NATO membership.:

@George-K

Putin smiled.

Ayup...

I'm sure that Erdogan understands his strategic significance, and he'll leverage that to the best of his ability.

[Renauda]

@George-K

I think Putin has at least twenty-seven 8 x 10 coloured glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one one explaining what Erdogan is doing on that frame.

[jon-nyc]

Prediction: Sweden and Finland will end their sanctions on Turkey, Turkey will end its objections, and SE and FI join NATO.

[George K]

@jon-nyc said in Looks like Finland will apply for NATO membership.:

Prediction: Sweden and Finland will end their sanctions on Turkey and join NATO.

Please elaborate. I was not aware that these countries had sanctions against Turkey.

Or, send me a google link if you're feeling lazy, of course.

[jon-nyc]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61472021.amp