President Biden's Candidate For Commanding Nato Forces: Accession Of Finland And Sweden Strengthens Alliance, Shifts Geometry To Russia's Opponents

Jenderal Christopher Cavoli. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Army Europe)

JAKARTA - Finland's and Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), will increase the alliance's military and naval access in the Baltic Sea against Russia and change the regional 'geometry', said US President Joe Biden's candidate for Commander-in-Chief of Nato Forces.

General Christopher Cavoli, currently commander of the US Army Europe-Africa, told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that the Nordic countries' membership in NATO will soon help the alliance.

"From a military perspective, each of those militaries brought a bit of capability and capacity to the alliance from day one," he said, according to The National News May 27.

He further explained, given the strategic coastline of the two countries, especially Finland's 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, their membership would create a very different geometry with the area.

"This presents a lot of different dilemmas, almost geometric dilemmas that the Russians didn't have at the time, this was when they sailed from St Petersburg to Kaliningrad," explained General Cavoli.

In particular, General Cavoli emphasized Finland's military prowess, equipped with F-18 and F-35 fighter jets, and pointed to the country's previous experience against Russia in the 1930s.

Not only Finland's air power, General Cavoli also praised the Swedish naval power, calling the country's military assets in the Baltic Sea very important for the defense alliance.

However, the formal application for membership of the two countries has received strong opposition from Turkey, which views them as failing to label the Kurdish militant organization PKK as a terrorist group, which is unacceptable.

In addition, Ankara is also frustrated with the restrictions on military exports from Finland and Sweden. US officials hope the issue can be resolved diplomatically.

General Cavoli did not comment on the negotiations, but stressed that he hoped Finland and Sweden would join the alliance.