Latvia's foreign minister has embraced Finland and Sweden's plans to join the alliance

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics has said his country approves of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, noting that their addition to the US-led military bloc will turn the Baltic Sea into "a NATO sea" in a Friday interview with the Financial Times.

Along with his counterparts in Estonia and Lithuania, Rinkevics expressed his eagerness to ratify the membership applications of the two Nordic countries. All three told the Times they would benefit from Finland and Sweden's military strength, particularly Finland's US fighter jet fleet.

Despite his unmitigated support for the accession of Russia's northern neighbors to NATO, however, Rinkevics is hoping for more NATO troops in his country. The transformation of the Baltic into a NATO asset "does not change our demands for NATO increase in [the] Baltic region," the FM said, adding that "there are still issues to be addressed" and that "the current security situation requires bolder plans by the alliance."

While NATO sent 1,000 extra troops each to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from European member states earlier this year, the countries have demanded more, calling for brigades of 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers and an air defense upgrade that would enable them to shoot down Russian planes.

Before Moscow's attack on Ukraine, the Baltics claimed to be concerned about Russia potentially invading their region via the Suwalki gap, the comparatively short (65km) border region between Poland and Lithuania sandwiched between Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad region. All three nations are reportedly increasing their defense spending to 2.5% of GDP, well above the NATO requirement of 2%.

Russia warned on Thursday that Finland joining the bloc would pose a direct threat and require a response from Moscow following the country's announcement that it planned to seek membership with an eye toward submitting a formal application as soon as next Monday. Finland shares an 833-mile (1,340-kilometer) land border with Russia.

Sweden reportedly plans to make its own formal request to join NATO next week, though some factions of the government are more enthusiastic than others regarding the prospect.

(RT.com)