Finland: NATO stronger than always against Russia

If we look at operational planning, commitments and NATO capabilities and compare with what was e.g. in the 1990s, this is simply a completely different level and that is why Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is stronger than always before," said Finnish president Alexander Stubb.PAP

Finnish president Alexander Stubb calms down about Russian provocations against NATO. In an interview with Latvian tv LTV, he estimated that Moscow "tests us with information war, drones, sabotage, in air, at sea and sometimes even on land".

Stubb spoke after a two-day visit to Latvia, during which he and president Edgars Rinkeviczs visited the naval base in Lipawa. The Finnish leader stressed the request to stay calm towards cyber attacks and another destabilising actions of Russia.

NATO's decisive response

Finland's president praised the Alliance's consequence to fresh incidents with drones that invaded Poland and Romania from the east. Launched at the request of Warsaw, Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty was only the eighth specified case in NATO past since 1949.

Following consultations between allies, an east defender mission was established to strengthen the Polish air defence and join the construction of the drone wall. "The reaction was clear and very determined" - added Stubb.

Answer to "fake news"

Stubb demented media reports from spring that Finland after the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States had ceased to believe in NATO's guarantees. The Finnish president described this information as "fake news" and assured him that he did not see signs of American withdrawal from Article 5 of the Treaty.

He added that very close transatlantic, bilateral and organization relations are inactive developing with the US. With Trump, NATO states have accepted an work to increase defence spending from 2 to 5 percent of GDP.

"Now we are witnessing NATO 3.0" - concluded the president of the country, who after decades of neutrality joined the Alliance in consequence to Russia's attack on Ukraine. Finland has the longest border on the flank of east NATO with Russia, over 1,300 kilometres.

Sources used: "PAP" Note: This article has been edited with the aid of Artificial Intelligence.