- France mourns Mayotte victims amid uncertainy over government
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- Sweden says China denied request for prosecutors to probe ship linked to cut undersea cables
- African players in Europe: Salah leads Golden Boot race after brace
- Global stock markets edge higher as US inflation eases rate fears
- German far-right AfD to march in city hit by Christmas market attack
- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
- Clock ticks down on France government nomination
- 'Devastated' Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Mozambique on edge as judges rule on disputed election
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
- Philippines says to acquire US Typhon missile system
- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway
- China vows 'cooperation' over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables
- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate fears
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- Daniels throws five TDs as Commanders down Eagles, Lions and Vikings win
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- Tortoise Capital Completes Merger of Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. (NYSE: TPZ), Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. (NYSE: TTP), and Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. (NYSE: NDP) and Conversion to Actively Managed ETF
- Tortoise Capital Completes Merger of Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. (NYSE: TYG) and Tortoise Midstream Energy Fund, Inc. (NYSE: NTG)
- Telomir Pharmaceuticals Confirms Copper Binding Capabilities of Telomir-1 and Expands Pipeline Into Wilson's Disease
- Datametrex Cancels RSUS
- South Star Battery Metals Announces Upsize of Non-Brokered Private Placement to Raise Up to US$3.20M, Extends Closing and Amended and Restated Stream Agreement
- Brightline Interactive Successfully Delivers A Scalable Immersive Simulation To A Global Government Service Integrator, Positioning Itself As A Leading Operating System For Processing And Visualizing Complex Information In 3D Space
- Urb NM is Named "Fastest Growing" Marijuana Brand in New Mexico
- Alset AI Broadens Investment Policy to Embrace Decentralized AI, Quantum AI, Quantum Computing, and Cryptocurrency Opportunities
- Strawberry Fields REIT Enters Into Agreement for Six Healthcare Facilities Located in Kansas
- NanoViricides is in a Great Position to Fight Potential Bird Flu Pandemic with a Drug that the Mercurial H5N1 Influenza A Virus is Unlikely to Escape
- Zomedica Launches Two New Quantitative Assays on the TRUFORMA(R) Platform: Canine NT-proBNP and Progesterone
- MainStreetChamber Holdings, Inc. Submits 15(c)211 Application
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - December 23
- Melrose Group Publicly Files Complaint to the Ontario Securities Commission
- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
Rattled by Russia, Finland and Sweden revisit NATO debate
The threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine has reignited debate in Finland and Sweden over whether they should join NATO to fend off any possible eastern aggression.
Fighter jets could be heard carrying out drills above the Finnish capital this week, while Sweden recently deployed troops to a Baltic outpost in response to rising tensions.
President Vladimir Putin's demands that NATO not expand eastwards have also led Finnish and Swedish leaders to loudly reassert their right to apply for membership should they wish.
"It's for Finland and 30 NATO allies to decide, finally, on the issue of membership, and that's exactly the same for Sweden," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday after meeting the countries' foreign ministers.
Neither Finland nor Sweden have expressed an official desire to become full members, preferring instead information sharing and some joint training.
But Charly Salonius-Pasternak, from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, said Finland and Sweden had made "a conscious effort... to get explicit statements that NATO's open-door policy is still open".
Elina Valtonen, vice-chair of Finland's opposition National Coalition Party, said joining was "a natural step".
"We have been forming ever-closer cooperation agreements not only with NATO, but also the United Kingdom and the United States," Valtonen said.
She added that Finland had long abandoned its Cold War stance of seeking to appease the Kremlin by remaining neutral.
- 'Akin to blasphemy' -
Without membership, Finland is ineligible for protections under NATO's Article 5, which commits other members to come to its aid should Russia send troops across the 1,340-kilometre-long (830- mile-long) border.
But support for NATO membership has traditionally been low among Finns and Swedes, though a January survey in Finland suggested opposition to joining had fallen to a two-decade low of 42 percent.
Robert Dalsjo, from the Swedish Defence Research Agency, said that for many in Sweden's largest political party, the Social Democrats, NATO membership was "akin to blasphemy".
A re-evaluation could only be triggered by either "a Finnish opening for membership, or a threat so credible that the political calculus changes," he said.
Few Russia-watchers suspect Putin has plans to send tanks into Finland.
But, said Finnish analyst Salonius-Pasternak, "we have seen and continue to see... sub-threshold actions," such as Russia suddenly releasing 1,700 migrants across the Finnish border in 2016, or repeated airspace incursions.
With memories lingering of the Soviets' bloody invasion attempt during World War II, Finland has for years upheld high levels of military readiness.
Finland's former foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja, one of the country's most prominent opponents of NATO membership, said the country was well-prepared if needed.
"We are not blue-eyed, so we have heavily invested in our national defence," he said.
- 'Borrowing umbrellas' -
Finland has spent 8.4 billion euros ($9.5 billion) on new fighter jets, and "can mobilise a reserve of 280,000 trained soldiers, which no other country in Europe can do," Tuomioja added.
Sweden, in contrast, slashed military spending after the Cold War.
In 2013 commander-in-chief Sverker Goranson shocked Swedes by saying the country could only hold off a Russian invasion for "about a week" without outside help.
But after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Sweden began bolstering its defences.
"We were caught dressed for beautiful weather as the barometer indicated a storm coming," said Dalsjo, the Swedish analyst.
"We've solved this by borrowing umbrellas, boots and warm sweaters from the Americans," but Sweden is still far from having the resources to defend itself.
The country, which has not been to war in two centuries, reintroduced mandatory military service in 2017.
This month Sweden deployed armed patrols to the island of Gotland after three Russian landing ships entered the Baltic sea.
Finland announced it had increased "preparedness" with military exercises across the country.
Salonius-Pasternak said Helsinki was quietly preparing behind the scenes.
"Right now stuff is being done, but one might not see it," he said.
Ch.Kahalev--AMWN