Finland's Nato moment

A snub for Putin, a risk for Europe

The election of a conservative government in Finland, defeating the centre-left Social Democrats, led by Sanna Marin, the country’s youngest prime minister (PM), coincides with the Scandinavian country’s entry into the 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato). It is notable that Finland, together with Sweden, voted to join the 74-year-old Western defensive alliance in May last year soon after Russia invaded Ukraine. Both countries fear Russian aggression, especially given the fact that the Ukraine invasion was partly launched from the former Soviet republic of Belarus. Finland is especially vulnerable since it shares a 1,340-km land border with Russia and has