Thread by @andrewmichta

🧵As #Finland formally joins @NATO the alliance takes an important 1st step as it transforms the region’s security equation. The 2nd step will be #Sweden joining as well-it will come either in this round of enlargement or the next. The impact of FIN joining is transformative.1/6

Not only will #Russia have to respond to having another 830+ miles of @NATO border to worry about, but also FIN’s forces. The March agreement by the Scandinavians to operate their 250 aircraft as one integrated Air Force has reconfigured the power balance across the region. 2/6

Bringing #Finland and #Sweden into @NATO has made the Baltic states orders of magnitude more secure, giving the region the requisite geostrategic depth and providing real available exercised military capabilities. It has effectively enclosed the Baltic Sea within @NATO. 3/6

#Finland (and soon also #Sweden) in @NATO has shifted EUR’s center of gravity to the Northeast, making the Nordic/Baltic/Black Sea “Intermarium corridor” centered on #Poland the primary zone of @NATO’s parameter; with the new DDA Concept & regional plans—it’s a game changer.4/6

@NATO enlargement into Scandinavia puts paid to all the talk about “strategic autonomy” and other such theorizing. @NATO is back to basics of collective deterrence and defense. As we approach Vilnius, the core imperative for EUR is to revitalize its defense industry & rearm. 5/6

We wasted 30yrs in deep strategic slumber, with politicians having bought into the “end of history” nonsense. #Russia’s brutal invasion of #Georgia in 2008, #Ukraine in 2014 and #Syria in 2015 failed to awaken us. Let’s hope after 2022 we are finally up. #StandWithUkraine 6/End