The US-led bloc doesn’t plan any “additional presence” in the two Nordic states
NATO said it does not intend to set up bases in Sweden and Finland. These countries, both under the US military bloc, are in process of joining NATO.
“We don’t plan to have an additional presence in either country, they have formidable national forces. They’re capable of defending themselves,”AFP interviewed Mircea Geoana on Tuesday, the NATO Deputy Secret General.
Geoana said, “we don’t plan to have NATO bases in these two countries, because they have a very high level of military and strategic maturity.”
After Russia’s deployment of troops in Ukraine late February, the two Nordic countries decided to abandon their tradition of non-alignment. They joined NATO.
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The accession protocols were signed by the Finnish and Swedish foreign ministers on Tuesday. Accession for the countries now has to be approved by the parliaments of the bloc’s 30 members.
Russia has repeatedly complained that NATO’s expansion undermines the security of Europe.
President Vladimir Putin cited the bloc’s attempt to set up “a foothold” in Ukraine as one of the causes of Moscow’s actions in the neighboring state.
Putin declared last week, that Moscow will be a “mirrored response”NATO, if the country deploys “military units and infrastructure”Sweden or Finland
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