NATO membership means renunciation of sovereignty leading to following “destructive orders from the United States and NATO,” says Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
In a Friday remark, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that if Finland and Sweden join NATO, they will not gain any greater protection since they will be forced into the frontline of the organization.
According to her, joining NATO will not provide “them greater national security” and “they will automatically find themselves on NATO’s forefront.”
“Moreover, NATO membership implies renunciation of part of sovereignty in making defense and foreign policy decisions. This trend developed long before the current situation, when the EU member-states, including netural ones, were gradually turned into a tool obediently following destructive orders from the United States and NATO.”
Zakharova emphasized that the ultimate decision was up to the governments of Sweden and Finland, but that they should be mindful of the implications of their membership in NATO “for bilateral relations and the European security architecture in general, which is now in a critical condition.”
“For many decades,” she added, “the foreign policy of military non-alignment maintained the security of Sweden and Finland at a reliable level and served as a firm basis for building mutually beneficial and equitable cooperation between our countries and for strengthening relations of partnership, in which the role of the military factor was reduced to zero.”
“Potential membership of NATO is unlikely to help enhance the international prestige of Sweden and Finland, which in their history have served as proponents of many constructive and uniting initiatives. With the admission to the alliance Stockholm and Helsinki may lose this status.”
Zakharova emphasized that the current resurgence of debates over NATO membership was preceded by several years of a “well-orchestrated campaign by foreign forces geared to pulling Sweden and Finland into the North Atlantic Alliance.”
“It is common knowledge that NATO has long felt at home on the territory of both countries and conducted large-scale exercises. The reason why the alliance needs this is clear. Its purpose is to keep building up the military potential and geographic expansion and to create another stronghold for threatening Russia,” she said. “But why our Finnish and Swedish neighbors in the Baltic region may wish to be turned into another line of confrontation between NATO and Russia is anyone’s guess. The negative effects of this for peace and stability in the north of Europe are obvious.”
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