Sweden and Finland apply to join NATO
What do you know about Finland and Sweden?
On May 18th Sweden and Finland finally applied to join NATO.
Why do you think they never tried to join in the past?
Finland shares a (1,300 km) border with Russia and didn’t want to make them angry
Sweden wanted to support Finland and didn’t want them to be isolated. Also they see themselves as a peacekeeper and negotiator in global politics.
Russian invaded Finland in 1939 and Finland lost 10% of its territory.
If you were Finland’s President, how would you prepare for a possible invasion by Russia?
Population
Area
Army
Finland
5.5 million
338,000
23,000
900,000 reservists
Sweden
10.3 million
528,000 km
23,600
11,200 reservists
What is surprising about these numbers?
Why do you think Finland has so many reservists?
How many personnel does the SDF have?
Japan’s SDF has 247,200 active personnel and 56,000 Reserve personnel
Finland has compulsory military service for men. (You can be excluded for personal and health reasons)
Women (between 19 and 29) can volunteer to do military service. At it’s peak, the number reached 1700 in one year.
Feminist groups in the country have proposed universal conscription - all men and women will have to join the military. They say this will make society more equal. Do you think it’s a good idea?
Underground Bunkers:
Helsinki has a vast network of underground bunkers and tunnels in case Russia tries to invade them.
What would you do with the bunkers during peace time?
To prepare for war, what stockpiles should a country prepare?
Finland’s system:
At least six months of all major fuels and grains
2 week supply of food for all Finnish citizens
Pharmaceutical companies must have 3-10 months’ worth of all imported drugs
All buildings over a certain size must have a bomb shelter.
Singapore recently started this rule too. Why?Every year dozens of top CEO’s, politicians, church and media leaders need to attend “National Defense courses” for a month so they know what to do if war starts
Should Japan be using any of these strategies to prepare for a possible war?
Will Sweden and Finland be accepted?
For new members to join NATO, members must vote unanimously to allow them in.
Turkey is the one NATO member that’s blocking their membership.
Turkey accused Sweden of supporting “terrorist groups” which have been fighting against the Turkish government.
Sweden suspended arms exports to Turkey in 2019 because of the war in Syria
In order for a country to join NATO they need to show their support for:
democracy
individual liberty (human rights)
the rule of law (little corruption)
Ukraine claims to meet the criteria but the US and some European countries disagree.
Corruption is still a big problem
They’ve only had free elections (without Russian interference) in the last few years
There is little protection for sexual and ethnic minorities and attacks against them are common