A lot has happened in the past months, but one thing has not been given sufficient attention: we need to talk about NATO. And I don’t mean NATO as one of the main causes of the Ukraine crisis, we all hopefully know more than enough about that by now. I am talking about the biggest NATO provocation in years, which is not only an irresponsible idea, but also a pointless one. I am talking about NATO’s plans to let Finland and Sweden join the alliance. On 18 May, both countries have officially applied for NATO membership. The alliance is calling this a ‘historic moment’ and will further discuss the applications at the NATO summit in June. This development is almost a declaration of war to Russia, and none of the parties have anything to gain from the move.

First of all, with an entire country currently in ruins because of NATO’s eastward expansion, continuing on the same path is irresponsible and reckless. The alliance just doesn’t seem to care about the security interests of other states and usually laughs them away. As we have seen in Ukraine, this is extremely dangerous and ultimately costs thousands of human lives.

And I know that this example has been given many times in the past years, but it’s too revealing to ignore it: what would the US do if China incorporated Mexico and Canada in a military alliance and started placing missile systems there? I think we all know the answer. In any case, the US would not calmly accept a threat that big to its security. Russia did not either. Nevertheless, NATO now decides to even enlarge the threat by absorbing two more countries that share a border with Russia. Can it get more brazen than this?

Besides this, Finland and Sweden joining NATO at this moment in history is the equivalent of climbing into a sinking ship to save yourself from drowning. Both countries have advanced militaries and are far more secure today than they were at any point during the Cold War. And, since the West has claimed that Russia’s military is so weak in Ukraine, wouldn’t that mean – if you follow their line of thought – that the threat they might have faced from Russia is much smaller than they previously believed? If Russia is struggling to defeat the Ukrainian army, further NATO expansion is not addressing a real security problem in Europe. However, as we have seen, the pointlessness of it all hasn’t stopped NATO.

Adding new member states every few years has given the alliance something to do when it isn’t bombing other countries, and this process will not stop. Bringing in Finland and Sweden will likely lead to more irresponsible talk about adding Georgia as well, and we know how that will end.

Like previous rounds of NATO expansion, this one is proceeding without any serious consideration of the possible costs that come from adding new allies. Western leaders sell it by using the hysteric panic of the moment, but they all know that simply exists no credible scenario that would lead to an out-of-the-blue Russian attack on Finland or Sweden if they remained non-aligned as they’ve been for decades.

The truth is that NATO simply does not care. NATO will enlarge, because it only wants to threaten and in the end defeat Russia. It will not work, because as we’ve seen, the Russian bear always fights back, but it will led to bloodshed and destruction. We’re only seeing the beginning now.