It appears that by the end of the year, the territory, GDP, and length of NATO's common border with Russia will increase by the same amount as they would if Ukraine did get the desired membership..

The brutality with which Vladimir Putin is trying to close security options for Ukraine seems to have led to a sudden change in thinking in Finland and Sweden, writes The Guardian. However, the process is not over yet.. Attitudes towards NATO membership are not yet stable. And, given the steady protest against participation in the alliance in the past, the Finns and Swedes may return to their usual semi-neutrality.. Russian nuclear threats may force voters to think again. The entry process can be difficult. There are many forms of NATO membership. Helsinki and Stockholm haven't explored them yet.

But before the June summit in Madrid, the alliance will be on track to increase its population by 16 million people, its GDP by 800 billion euros and its territory by 780,000 square kilometers.. In turn, about 41 million people live in Ukraine. Its territory is 603.5 thousand square kilometers, and its GDP is 155 billion euros.. After the entry of Sweden and Finland into Russia, a new common border with NATO will appear with a length of 1300 kilometers. And this is just the opposite of what Putin insisted on in his demands for the alliance last year.. Worse still for Moscow is that NATO will now fortify its position in the Baltic Sea right next to the Kaliningrad region, where the strategically important Russian fleet is based..

By launching an invasion of Ukraine, Putin thought he was launching a “rocket strike” on the West. But it turned out that this is a high-precision boomerang. Making two staunchly neutral nations NATO members would add to the pantheon of the biggest strategic missteps in the meantime..

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The extraordinary moment is also in the fact that the changes happened very quickly. Finland, which has been semi-neutral for the past 70 years, has changed its foreign policy at lightning speed. Finnish tolerance for Putin was so great that some leftists in the country almost collaborated with the Kremlin. The Finnish political elite refused to contact the Russian opposition. Back in December, polls showed that only 24% of the country's population supported the idea of \u200b\u200bjoining NATO..

Four months later, Finnish politics turned upside down.. Support for joining NATO rose to 68%. Polls also show that more than half of the 200 members of the Finnish Parliament support the idea of \u200b\u200bmembership. During the parliamentary elections in 2015, 91% of the SDP candidates were against NATO. But Prime Minister Sanna Marin, also part of this political force, says times have changed..

“Russia turned out to be not such a neighbor as we thought,” she said..

Former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said his country's desire for NATO membership was dictated by rational fear that provoked Russia's invasion of Ukraine.. He is convinced that the Finnish application will be submitted at the headquarters of the alliance before the end of May..

Finland's pivot was so significant that the country has become a model for its neighbor, Sweden.. And this says a lot about mutual respect and sensitive relations between countries.. From a NATO point of view, it would be ideal if Helsinki and Stockholm joined together. And polls show it's quite possible.. However, Finnish diplomats insist they will not interfere in sovereign Swedish decisions.. Marin emphasized this during a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson in Stockholm.. The Finnish prime minister explained that coordination with Swedish colleagues is needed, but "

“Finland does not dictate schedules or conclusions to Sweden, just as Sweden does not dictate anything to Finland,” Marin stressed..

It is very important for the ruling Social Democratic Party in Stockholm that no one has any doubts about its leadership in the process of revising the national policy. In the end, back in November, the party confirmed that it was against any alliances. But at the same time, four center-right political forces in the country now support joining NATO.. And two left-wing parties are opposed, arguing that membership would oblige the country to defend Turkey and Hungary..

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The Guardian notes that too long an accession process for the two Scandinavian countries would be risky.

Since Russia, using the full range of hybrid warfare methods, will try to disrupt it. On the day when President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke in the Parliament of Finland, Russia staged cyber attacks and violated the country's airspace.

For those who fear an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine attributable to NATO, the sudden expansion of Article 5 obligations in the north may seem worrisome. Putin may even decide he was right when he spoke of the alliance's sinister policy to encircle Russia.. However, despite all the talk of \?