Barry M. Blechman, co-founder of the Stimson Center think tank, said he doesn't believe Moscow would respond in a military way if Sweden and Finland were to join NATO.
US expert: Moscow wouldn't respond to Finland's, Sweden's NATO membership with force
21st October 2015, 17:19
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«I think they would be very upset and there would be all sorts of threats, but they would not start a war over that. I would not take a position on whether Sweden and Finland should do this but they should not not do it because of fear of Russian military attack,» Blechman told BNS on the sidelines of a seminar held at the International Center for Defense Studies (ICDS) in Tallinn.
«They are sovereign nations and it is their right to ally themselves with whoever they want. There are also other ways they can cooperate with NATO short of membership. They have to decide what is the best policy,» Blechman said in his answer to a question from BNS on whether Finland and Sweden opting for NATO membership could prompt Russia to start a conflict involving tactical nuclear weapons.
Asked about possible Russian invasion of the Swedish island of Gotland and Russia placing air defense assets there, Blechman said he thinks «that something like that would prompt a response from NATO even if Sweden were not a member» of NATO.