MOSCOW: In response to Finland’s accession to NATO, Russia has announced that it will increase its military presence in the northwest and west of the country.
According to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko made the announcement on Monday.
The move comes as Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed earlier that day that Finland would become the 31st member state of the military alliance on Tuesday.
“We will enhance our military potential in the northwestern and western direction,” Grushko stated.
He added that Russia would take additional steps to guarantee its military security in the event of the deployment of troops and resources from other NATO member states on the territory of Finland.
Finland and Sweden NATO application
The Russian Federation and Finland share a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border.
Last May, Finland and Sweden dropped their decades-long policy of military non-alignment and filed an application to join the western alliance in the aftermath of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.
The Kremlin maintained in March that Russia is not a threat to the two Nordic nations and has no “dispute” with them.
However, Russia perceives NATO enlargement as an “existential” threat to its security and has cited Ukraine’s desire to join the alliance as a justification for the aggression.
The move by Russia to increase its military presence in the northwest follows a pattern of tensions with NATO over the past few years, including the annexation of the Crimea region in 2014 and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.
NATO has responded by increasing its military presence in eastern Europe, including deploying troops to the Baltic states and Poland.
The accession of Finland to NATO is expected to further escalate tensions between Russia and the alliance.
While Finland is not a member of NATO’s military alliance, it has participated in many of its operations and has strong ties with several of its member states.
