Photo: YEKATERINA SHTUKINA/AP/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
The vice president of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, threatened this Thursday (80.14.2012) with deploying nuclear weapons in the Baltic if Sweden and Finland join NATO.
“It will be necessary to reinforce the group of ground forces, anti-aircraft defense, deploy important naval forces in the waters of the gulf of finland And, in that case, it will no longer be possible to speak of a Baltic without nuclear weapons. The balance must be restored”, wrote the high official in his Telegram account.
Medvedev, former prime minister and president of Russia between 2008 and 2012, stressed that for Moscow “it is not so important how many countries are in NATO”, since “two more, two less, due to their weight and population, do not make much difference”.
However, he stressed that if Sweden and Finland join NATO, the length of the land border between Russia and the Atlantic Alliance will double, so it should be strengthened.
Medvedev indicated that it makes no sense to think that the Russian “special military operation” in Ukraine is to blame for Sweden and Finland joining the organization.
“In the first place, before there were attempts to drag them into NATO. And, secondly, what is important, we do not have territorial disputes with those countries, like with Ukraine”, he added.
The former Russian president indicated that public opinion of Sweden and Finland is divided almost equally on the need to join NATO.
“Nobody sensible wants prices and taxes to increase; that tension rises along the borders, that there are Iskander (missiles), hypersonic (weapons) and nuclear-armed ships literally a stone’s throw from your house,” he added.
“We are going to trust that the good sense of our northern neighbors prevails. And if not, as they say, they have asked for it themselves”, he said.
jp (efe, reuters)