SWEDEN'S AND FINLAND'S ACCESSION TO NATO AS A FACTOR IN CHANGING THE EUROPEAN SECURITY SYSTEM

Abstract

The article analyzes the prerequisites and consequences of the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. Neutrality is avoiding participation in wars and non-participation in military-political blocs in peacetime, as well as not providing national territory for foreign military bases, and refusing to sell weapons to opposing parties. The Russian ultimatum of November 2021 with the demands that NATO renounce the expansion of the alliance testified to the fact of a deep crisis of the European security system. The trend towards the formation of a multipolar system of international relations has changed the logic of the policy of neutrality. Defeat in the Northern War of 1700-1721 prompted Sweden to switch to a policy of active neutrality. In 1935, Finland declared its intention to pursue a neutral policy with priority given to the Scandinavian direction. After Finland's defeat in the Second World War, the so-called “Finlandization” became a feature of Finnish neutrality. “Finlandization” is considered as subordination of the political course of a weaker country to the interests of a more powerful neighboring country with formal preservation of sovereignty. The process of gradual formation of a multipolar world provoked a change in the geopolitical orientations of the states of Northern Europe. There is constant tension in the Arctic. The USA declared a course for a new Atlanticism aimed at continuing the process of expansion and structural and functional strengthening of NATO. The active phase of the Russian war against Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, was the decisive reason for the decision to join Sweden and Finland in NATO. The methodological support for the conclusions of the article is based on the theory of political realism and problematic and chronological analysis of the modern history of international relations. The scientific novelty of the article lies in determining the complex of geopolitical, military-strategic, historical preconditions and consequences of Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO.