Granting Finland and Sweden membership in NATO will lead to negative consequences for peace in northern Europe and the security of the continent as a whole, according to an official statement by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

“Why our Finnish and Swedish neighbors in the Baltic region should turn into a new frontier of confrontation between the NATO bloc and Russia is unclear. The negative consequences for peace and stability in northern Europe are obvious,” Zakharova said in a comment posted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday..

According to her, the choice is up to the authorities of Sweden and Finland, but the countries “should also understand the consequences of such a step for bilateral relations and the European security architecture in general”.

In particular, the Russian Federation is confident that the activation of the issue of Finland and Sweden joining NATO is due to "

“Why the alliance needs this is understandable.

The goal is to continue building up military potential and geographic expansion, to create another flank for Russia's threats,"

According to Zakharova, potential membership in NATO will not help to strengthen the international prestige of Sweden and Finland, on the contrary, they will be on the NATO “front line” and “will give up part of their sovereignty when making decisions in the field of defense and foreign policy”.

Note that a few years ago, the very idea of \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bFinland joining NATO seemed unrealistic.. But Russia's massive invasion of Ukraine changed everything.. But is NATO ready to accept a new member After all, although in Brussels they talk about the policy of " For more information on how the Finns are trying to protect themselves from the Russian military threat, read Alina Gritsenko's article "