Lrussia will suspend its electricity deliveries to Finland from Saturday, due to unpaid bills, announced on Friday May 13, the supplier RAO Nordic Oy, 100% owned by the Russian company InterRAO. Helsinki-based RAO Nordic Oy has not received payment for electricity supplied to Finland since May 6, the group said in a statement, citing a lack of means to pay for electricity imported from Russia.
For its part, the Finnish network operator has assured that it can do without Russian electricity. This announcement comes against a backdrop of rising tensions between Moscow and Helsinki, which has announced its desire to join NATO “without delay” under the influence of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. An intention seen with a very bad eye by Moscow which has already threatened a “military-technical” response. Finland’s entry into NATO would “definitely” be a threat to Russia, the Kremlin reacted.
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Announcements expected in the coming days
An official Swedish report has paved the way for the country’s accession to NATO, by multiplying the favorable conclusions before the decision of the Nordic country and its Finnish neighbor in the coming days. After decades out of military alliances, Helsinki and Stockholm are due to announce their NATO candidacies by early next week as a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finland has already taken a huge step on Thursday, its president and prime minister saying they are in favor of joining the alliance “without delay” led by the United States. The Finnish candidacy must be formalized by the executive tandem this Sunday, after the meeting of a government council. On the same day, Sweden’s ruling Social Democratic Party is due to decide on a candidacy, and support would remove the last significant hurdle on Stockholm’s side.
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NATO membership would reduce the risk of conflict in Northern Europe
Without expressing a formal recommendation, a report prepared by the government with all the parties in Parliament multiplied the conclusions favorable to a Swedish candidacy. “Sweden’s membership in NATO would raise the threshold [de déclenchement] of military conflicts and would thus have a deterrent effect in Northern Europe”, concludes in particular the 40-page strategic review, prepared in recent weeks. While Moscow threatens Finland and Sweden with “consequences” in the event of membership, the report considers an armed attack very unlikely, but recognizes that Russian “provocations” and “reprisals” cannot be “excluded”.
The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO would be a “mistake”, like that of Greece’s accession to the Atlantic Alliance treaty, for his part judged the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. . The Head of State explained to the press that he does not want to see “the same mistake made when Greece joined”, accusing Stockholm and Helsinki “of harboring PKK terrorists”, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. And to insist: “We do not have a positive opinion. »