文/虎夫
Over the past 20 years, NATO has expanded eastward five times. Each time NATO expands eastward, it has "squeezed" Russia and the world. In order to curb the eastward expansion of NATO, Putin adopted a "pre-emptive" approach and launched special military operations in Ukraine. The problem is that NATO not only fails to restrain its behavior, but also tries to bring the long-term "neutral" countries Sweden and Finland into the camp, hoping that they will become "chess pieces" to contain Russia and cut off the access of Russian warships to the sea.
Not long ago, US President Biden approved Refn to join NATO and called on other countries to allow Refn to become a member of NATO as soon as possible. In this context, the small NATO country Estonia began to give "bad ideas" to the boss, the United States! According to the Russian "Viewpoint" website, Estonia's new Defense Minister Hanno Pevkul said that Estonia and Finland should establish a joint missile defense system. He also proposed to close the Baltic Sea after Finland and Sweden join NATO. Become the "NATO Inland Sea".
NATO has absorbed Refn as a member state, and Estonia has raised the above-mentioned issues. What does it mean? This reflects that the momentum of NATO's eastward expansion will not weaken, and bringing in Finland and Sweden will put greater strategic pressure on Russia. You must know that Refn is geographically close to Russia, especially since Finland is not far from Moscow. If NATO deploys the strategic weapon in Finland, it will naturally have a deterrent effect.
Of course, Finland and Sweden joined NATO not only because of the encouragement of the United States, but also because of historical factors. You know, when the Soviet-Finnish War broke out during World War II, Finland lost more than 40,000 square kilometers of land, and 10% of its people lost their homes. Finland was filled with hatred for the Soviet Union. Russia, which inherited the genes of the Soviet Union, made Finland restless. Finland was worried that Russia would invade it like the Soviet Union. For its own safety, Finland decided to join NATO and seek a sense of security.
However, Russia’s reaction to Finland and Sweden joining NATO was not that strong. On the one hand, Russia is currently deeply involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, does not have enough energy to open a new front, and is unwilling to fully confront the United States. On the other hand, Finland and Sweden's cooperation with NATO "goes as far as it goes." After all, Russia is a nuclear power. If Finland goes too far, it will inevitably trigger Russian retaliatory measures.
As for the above suggestion made by the Estonian Defense Minister, he is completely encouraging Finland and Sweden to take radical measures to intensify the conflict between NATO and Russia. Estonia is a small country with little presence in the NATO and EU camps. By making the above suggestions, it can claim credit from the United States, demonstrate its anti-Russian stance, and win the strategic attention of the United States. To put it bluntly, Estonia wants to occupy a place in the Western camp, rather than "obscure".
In fact, Estonia's move is fundamentally the same as its neighboring country Lithuania hyping up the topic of the Taiwan Strait, and the three Baltic countries withdrawing from the China + Eastern Europe cooperation mechanism. Fundamentally speaking, the motivations are almost the same. The question is, will the United States take such a little brother seriously? After the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, the United States did not dare to send troops to help Ukraine. The strategic value of Estonia and Lithuania was far less than that of Ukraine. The two countries really thought that the United States would take them seriously and give them benefits! In fact, in the strategic deployment of the United States, they are all pawns and can be sacrificed at any time for the United States' hegemonic interests. If they are disobedient, they will be strategically beaten by the United States.
The formal membership of Finland and Sweden will fill the largest remaining gap in NATO's European map. As Arctic ice melts and shipping increases near the North Pole, air and sea activity in the region has increased in recent years. Most of the Baltic Sea, the shortest route for Russian ships to reach the Atlantic Ocean, would be controlled by NATO allies. Once the Baltic Sea becomes a "NATO internal sea", it will inevitably lead to a "head-to-head confrontation" between NATO and Russia, and the final result may be a nuclear war. When Pevkul came up with this "bad idea", didn't he know how serious the consequences would be?
