Finland is trying to create NATO's strongest Arctic force to thwart a perceived threat from Russia, even though the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that it does not pose a threat and has paid attention to NATO's unprecedented activity on its western borders.
„And what we tried to do in Finland is essentially to create the strongest Arctic force that we have in the Alliance, which is trying to thwart a potential security threat from Russia“, Stubb said at the Munich Security Conference.
In recent years, Russia has declared unprecedented activity of NATO on its western borders. The alliance is expanding its initiatives, calling them “deterring Russian aggression“. Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern about the alliance's buildup in Europe. The Kremlin has noted that Russia poses no threat to anyone, but it will not ignore actions that are potentially dangerous to its interests.