NATO Block
NATO is The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states โ 28 European states, the United States, and Canada. Within Europe, not all countries are part of NATO. Two countries that are currently not part of NATO but are looking to join are two Nordic countries: Sweden and Finland. Unfortunately, Turkey is trying to block them from joining the organization. Indeed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has doubled down on his resistance to Sweden and Finland joining the NATO alliance. It appears this resistance stems from Sweden and Finlandโs sanctions on Turkey. President Erdogan has said specifically: โWe will not say โyesโ to those who apply sanctions to Turkey to join security organization NATO.โ The exact sanction in question appears to be Swedenโs suspension of weapons sales to Turkey in 2019 over its military activities in Syria.
As neighbors of Ukraine, the incentives for Finland and Sweden to join NATO were crystal clear. After all, Ukraine themselves had once aspired to join. If Finland and Sweden are to become a member, it would serve as a powerful statement in pushing back against Russia. Currently, Sweden and Finland are members of the EU, and the latter shares an 830-mile border with Russia. Keeping an eye on NATO at such a crucial time could, from an investment perspective, help enhance predictions about the war implications in equities as well as forex markets. What do you think about this news? And will Sweden and Finland ever get the unanimous yes, they need from all NATO members?
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.