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Russia’s ambassador to Sweden said that both Sweden and Finland would become “legitimate targets” of “reprisals” due to the accession process of these two countries to NATO. Sweden will recall the Russian ambassador after these threats.
Viktor Tatarintsev, Russia’s ambassador to Sweden, said that by wanting to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the two countries would become “legitimate targets” of Russian “reprisals”, including “of a military nature”. Sweden did not like these threats and decided to call the Russian ambassador for “evident attempt to influence” the country’s politics. To AFP, Tobias Billström, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, even said that only Sweden decides on its National Defense policy.
These two countries had so far chosen neutrality vis-à-vis Russia, but given the invasion of Ukraine, both Sweden and Finland decided to opt for NATO membership due to their geographic proximity to Moscow.
Finland, which borders Russia, is only waiting for Turkey’s ratification promised by the President of that country, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to join NATO. Sweden, on the other hand, faces a veto from Turkey and a delay of ratification by Hungary.
After the postponed vote on Sweden’s accession in Budapest, the Hungarian Government today asked this country to change its tone and stop “the policy of defamation” towards the executive of Viktor Orban. There is still no date for the Hungarian Parliament to approve Sweden’s accession. Stockholm hopes to join NATO before the organization’s next meeting, scheduled for July, in Lithuania.