Recently, Sweden and Finland have applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

One of the purposes of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is so NATO doesn’t get any stronger. According to the Kremlin, It is one of the critical threats to Russian security, but because this war is currently happening Sweden and Finland have formally applied to join NATO. Finland joining NATO is a significant loss for Russia as Finland shares a 1340 km border with Russia.

To join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) all the countries have to accept, which means 30 countries for now. Currently, almost every country is supporting Finland in joining this organization. The only problem is that Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made it clear that he has objections and is currently trying to block the two Scandinavian countries from entering, so there are debates going on this topic. Turkey doesn’t want Sweden and Finland to join NATO because they compare these Scandinavian countries to “guesthouses for terrorists” that support the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen.

Finland and Sweden have never asked for support from the western countries even during the Cold War and the Winter War that opposed Finland and the Soviet Union in 1937. It seems like these north countries changed their mind when they saw what Russia is currently doing to Ukraine. Also, Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has called the invasion of Ukraine “illegal and indefensible”.

By joining NATO Finland and Sweden will have to Give about 2% of their GDP. GDP means “gross domestic product” and is the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year to gain the protection of the group.

If these countries join NATO, which is very likely, every country that is in NATO will have to protect them and they will have to protect every other country that is in this organization.