Foreign Digest: NATO and the European Union Invite New Members

NATO: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a 27-member mutual defensive pact led by the United States, has approved the membership applications for Finland and Sweden. The two Nordic and Baltic States abandoned their longstanding neutrality, although they had long been NATO partners, in the face of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine. Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to recreate the Soviet Union, used Ukraine’s application to join the alliance, which is unlikely to succeed, as a pretext to expand its invasion beyond the territory it seized or was gained by Russian-backed separatists in 2014. Finland’s and Sweden’s memberships will have to be approved by each member’s government, as expected. Other Eastern European States have been seeking NATO membership because of Russian hostility. European Union: The European Union has accepted the membership candidacy for Ukraine and Moldova while a block by Bulgaria on North Macedonia’s membership has been lifted. The application process could take years, but the acceptance was a sign of the EU’s support for former Soviet Republics Ukraine and Moldova in response to Russian imperialism. In addition to invading Ukraine, Russia stations troops in a breakaway part of Moldova against the will of the Moldovan Government. Similarly to NATO, a number of Eastern European States are seeking EU membership for trade and security instead of being forced to live under Russian or Russian allied domination. Thus, Putin’s attempts to divide and weaken Europe, the West and the United States, despite the cost of supplying Ukraine with materiel and the economic shock of the war and sanctions on Russia, have united Europe and strengthened the transatlantic alliance, and has encouraged Europe to wean itself off of dependence on Russian energy. The more successfully Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity are defended, the more Russia is deterred from additional invasions or Communist China is deterred from invading Taiwan, among other potential aggressions.