In a rapid response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and in the face of Moscow’s warnings to Nato to stop its enlargement, Finland and Sweden are seriously debating applications for membership in the alliance and are widely expected to join.
The accession of both countries would be another example of the counterproductive results of the invasion ordered by Russia’s President, Vladimir V. Putin. Instead of crushing Ukrainian nationalism, he has enhanced it. Instead of weakening the trans-Atlantic alliance, he has solidified it. Instead of dividing Nato and blocking its growth, he has united it.
Now, if the invasion has succeeded in anything, it has been to drive formerly nonaligned countries into the arms of Nato. In Helsinki on Wednesday, Finland issued a formal “white paper” on the “fundamental changes in the security environment,” designed to inform parliamentary debate on the issue.