Russian reactions to NATO’s northern enlargement: amazement, self-serving narratives, diplomatic moves, plans for military build-up and hybrid countermeasures
This paper will discuss Russia’s reactions to Sweden and Finland’s entry into NATO. From the perspective of NATO, the accession of Finland and Sweden both underlined NATO’s commitment to its open-door policy and sent a strong signal to Moscow that its attempts to undermine the rule-based European security order by force are counterproductive. From Russia’s perspective it was, indeed, that Finland and Sweden were dragged by Washington to the alliance. Russia’s reaction to NATO enlargement was first rather muted, as the membership bids were something unexpected. It then announced plans of enhancing its military presence in the North but in practice, it has been forced to reduce its manpower in the region due to the war on Ukraine. Moreover, Russia has also resorted to various diplomatic and hybrid instruments of influence to show its disapproval and to discredit and punish the new members.
