Finland confirms bid for NATO membership

HELSINKI－Finland on Sunday confirmed its bid for NATO membership as a bulwark against Russia, redrawing the balance of power in Europe after decades of military non-alignment.

In Helsinki, President Sauli Niinisto called the move historic. "A new era is opening," he said, before the decision is put before parliament for approval.

Finland's move, expected to be followed by neighboring Sweden, has angered the Kremlin, which insists the Nordic nations have nothing to fear and it promised reprisals.

One day before the decision, the Finnish head of state phoned his Russian counterpart President Vladimir Putin to inform him of his country's desire to join NATO, in a conversation described as "direct and straightforward".

But Putin responded by warning that joining NATO "would be a mistake since there is no threat to Finland's security", a Kremlin statement said.

Russia has already pulled the plug on electricity supplies to Finland, with whom it shares a 1,300-kilometer border, prompting grid bosses to ask Sweden for backup.

Attention now turns to Berlin. Earlier on Sunday, Germany said it has made all preparations for a quick ratification process should Finland and Sweden decide to apply for NATO membership, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, while underlining both countries' need for security guarantees.

"Germany has prepared everything to do a quick ratification process," she told reporters on the second day of talks with her NATO counterparts in Berlin, adding that ministers had agreed at a dinner on Saturday that there should not be a gray zone between the time they apply and the time they join.

In other developments, Russian diplomats in Washington are being threatened with violence, and US intelligence services are trying to make contact with them, Tass news agency cited the country's ambassador as saying on Saturday.

Since the conflict in Ukraine broke out, face-to-face meetings with US officials had ended, Anatoly Antonov told Russian television.

'Besieged fortress'

"It's like a besieged fortress," Russia's state news agency Tass quoted him as saying. "Embassy employees are receiving threats, including threats of physical violence.

"Agents from US security services are hanging around outside the Russian embassy, handing out CIA and FBI phone numbers, which can be called to establish contact."

The CIA and the FBI declined to comment. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the US State Department did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

And away from the conflict, Ukraine was basking in the morale-boosting glory of the landslide win of its entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, the world's biggest live music event.

Agencies - Xinhua