FM Spox-Will Respond To Sweden NATO Entry w/'Military-Technical' Steps

Russian Foreign Ministry spox Maria Zakhraova has claimed that Russia will take unspecified 'military-technical' steps in response to Sweden's accession to NATO, set to be made official this week following Hungary's approval of Stockholm's accession on 26 Feb. Reuters reports Zakharova stating "We will closely monitor what Sweden will do in the aggressive military bloc, how it will realise its membership in practice ... based on this, we will build our response with retaliatory steps of a military-technical and other nature,"

• Russia threatened similar measures against Finland when it joined the NATO alliance. Finland's lengthy border with Russia has seen Helsinki allege that Moscow has intentionally funnelled large numbers of migrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa to the northern frontier in a 'hybrid attack' aimed at threatening Finnish security and social cohesion. Similar options are not avaliable with regards to Sweden, given that it does not hold a land border with Russia.
• The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO could prove to be one of the largest policy miscalulations of the war from President Vladimir Putin. Russia's border with NATO - that requires additional manpower to monitor and defend - has almost doubled in length. Finland has a sizeable and well-trained army reserve, while Sweden possesses the fifth-largest naval fleet in the world. Both nations joining also essentially makes the Baltic Sea a 'NATO lake', with only Kaliningrad and the Gulf of Finland around St Petersburg not under NATO control.