Ships of the First Standing NATO Maritime Group during an exercise with the Finnish fast missile boat FNS Hanko in the Baltic Sea. Archival photoMOSCOW, May 22. Turkey's reluctance to accept Finnish and Swedish NATO membership is setting the alliance in a trap that will weaken it for decades, writes The National Interest columnist Mark Episkopos. As the article notes, Western countries could put pressure on Ankara to influence its position. For example, blocking a deal to sell upgraded F-16 fighters or limiting the interoperability of the Turkish army with the armed forces of other members of the organization.The United States demanded that NATO countries «punish» Turkey «However, these steps may also have the opposite effect. (Turkish President Recep — Ed.) Erdogan will prefer to double down rather than back down. He has already done this in response to Western sanctions after the purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system in 2017. The consequences of collective pressure <…> will destroy solidarity in NATO,» Episkopos said. He clarified that there is no mechanism for exclusion of countries in the North Atlantic Alliance, and it is unlikely that Erdogan will decide to leave out of it on their own. «An offended Turkey will weaken the bloc from within for decades,» the journalist predicts. According to the author, high-ranking officials in Washington and Brussels presented the expansion in Scandinavia as an undoubted success that will strengthen the coalition amid growing tensions in Europe. In fact, they started a dangerous long process with potentially serious consequences for the long-term unity of the West, summed up the Episkopos. about the possibility of abandoning long-term neutrality and joining the North Atlantic Alliance against the backdrop of a Russian special operation in Ukraine. NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said that the organization would be glad to see the Scandinavian states in its ranks and provide them with the opportunity for rapid integration. Moscow emphasized that NATO was aimed at confrontation. As the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov noted, its further expansion will not bring greater security to Europe. At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman clarified that he does not consider the possible participation of Helsinki and Stockholm in the unification an existential threat to Moscow. and Sweden in NATO
