The challenge of the far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen to the centrist PresidentEmmanuelMacron is giving many French citizens a sense of mixed feelings. The prime ministers of Sweden and Finland shocked the world by issuing a joint statement that they were considering applying for membership in NATO because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Sweden's Prime Minister told reporters that there was a before and after date for Russia's incursion in Ukraine. Sanna Marin said that the country would decide on applying to NATO in a matter of weeks. While both countries had already closed off their skies to Russian air traffic, the announcement about NATO membership further risked the wrath of the Kremlin, which has repeatedly threatened both against joining the 30-member military alliance. Over the last week in Sweden, radios, portable generators, and camping stoves have gone off the shelves, as the citizens prepare for acts of Russian sabotage. The government of Finland has enough grains and fuels in strategic reserves to last at least five months, and they are expecting more cyberattacks like the ones that hit the ministries of defense and foreign relations on April 8. Russia will target its infrastructure, including the internet and electrical grid, and Russian violations of the airspace in both countries are already on the rise, according to the residents of Finland. In response to their public statements of interest in NATO membership, Moscow has renewed its threats to retaliate and bolster nearby ground and air forces. If you're talking about large nuclear weapons, it doesn't matter if the bases are in the Baltic Sea or the Gulf of Finland. NATO territory would be expanded by 300,000 square miles, in defiance of Putin's demands last December to shrink NATO's footprint, if Sweden and Finland were added to the alliance. In early April, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he expected all NATO countries to welcome Sweden and Finland. Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, told Yahoo News that Sweden and Finland are capable military powers. The Baltic Sea is home to three small NATO countries, and their defense has always posed a problem for NATO. Daalder said that the likely accession of Finland and Sweden is a big deal for both NATO and Sweden. Sweden has been neutral since 1814. Since it became independent from Russia in 1917, Finland has never wanted to be part of an alliance. Three months ago, the prospect of Sweden and Finland joining NATO didn't seem like it would happen. Marin said in January that it was very unlikely that Finns would join NATO under her watch. Marin changed his mind two weeks ago, saying that Russia is not the neighbor he thought it was. The fact that Russia seems willing to invade on completely false pretenses, its neighbors that don't belong to NATO, sparked a realization among Finns, who have long tried to appease the Kremlin. When the citizens of Finland fought the former Soviet Union after it invaded in 1939, something fundamental changed in their logic. After Russia's atrocities in Bucha became clear, public support for joining NATO went up. Salonius-Pasternak said that if we join NATO, Russia may get annoyed and do something bad to us, so why not seek. Salonius-Pasternak said that the Finns drew some conclusions which forced the hand of the political elite. Gunilla Herolf, senior associate research fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs in Stockholm, told Yahoo News that Finland is leading the way towards NATO membership. The process of applying for NATO membership is expected to be sped up by the extensive cooperation of Sweden and Finland with NATO, which they often perform joint military exercises with. The risk is that acceptance into the military alliance depends on unanimous agreement from all 30 of NATO's current members, which could take several months. The invitation needs to be approved by all 30 current members of the Senate and 29 parliaments. He doesn't think there will be any problems, but he does think that a parliament might get dissolved and there won't be a parliament to approve it. Finns and Swedes will remain vulnerable until their membership is approved. The NATO clause states that an attack on one member is an attack on all, so if Russia attacked before they joined the alliance, they wouldn't be able to invoke it. The upcoming presidential election in France could be a problem. Right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen has vowed to cut France's military involvement with NATO if she is elected president. The problem is that it needs to be done quickly in 30 countries. The real question is, "What do you do in the meantime?", once the two Nordic countries are invited to apply to NATO, Daalder said. Both Sweden and Finland are increasing spending on civil defense and arms. The F-35s that the Finns ordered from Lockheed Martin will cost over $9 billion. The defense budget in Sweden in the year of 2021, which was $7 billion, is expected to increase to $11 billion, which is 2% of GDP. When the two men met for the first time last year, they ended up shouting at each other. An investigation is still pending after the star was released from custody. Few know that Amazon has millions of Prime subscribers. Arabian Prince, a founding member of the group N.W.A., is wading into the virtual-reality world with a twist. In a small parish in northern Italy affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, the mostly Ukrainian worshippers decided to repudiate the full-throated support for the war in Ukraine from the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian military was given a golden icon of the Virgin Mary by the Moscow Patriarch, who cast the war as a holy event. How many people thought it was my lucky day when this man was getting taken to the cleaners? A man builds a trap to catch a thief. Give us the weapons. The brother of the mayor of Kyiv told CNN that they were going to close the sky on their own. Kent is getting a breast augmentation to celebrate the release of her new memoir. Givanildo V. De Sousa has three kids with his ex-wife Iran Angelo, who is the aunt of his current wife. As it happens, a real story. Register for free now. The global economic war between Russia and the U.S. was the most important event in recent weeks. Russia has been preparing to challenge the Western socio- economic model for a long time. Russia's interests in Ukraine are well-known. The early years with Heard were too good to be true, until she appeared to be a different person. The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian military has received additional aircraft and parts for repairs. After the start of Russia's invasion, allies and military experts expected the air force to be shut down, but it was kept operational for nearly two months. John Kirby did not give any information on which countries provided aircraft, but he did say that Ukraine had more fighter aircraft than it had two weeks ago. I never knew... As the Department of Education corrects historical failures, reforms to income-based repayment and public service loan forgiveness will happen immediately. After telling a judge he wouldn't be able to afford damages if a suit was brought against him, the rapper flashed stacks of cash and jewelry on his social media accounts. Russia will retaliate against Poland if it stops working because it can't get funds from Moscow, the ambassador warned on Tuesday. Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats over allegations of working for Russian intelligence and blocked their bank accounts. Moscow retaliated in kind after dismissing the accusations as baseless. The ones captured on camera are so bad, they are almost unbelievable. In a harshly worded post on social media, a wealthy man from the UK wrote that innocent people and soldiers are dying. What do you think it is that the other little girls are communicating with their dad? 24 people were indicted for conspiring to engage in forced labor. People were forced to work for little or no pay. Many people might be surprised by the prices of VoIP phones. The seats that were left by Al Michaels and Michele Tafoya have been filled. In her comments, she showed her love for Alabama. The big COVID boost to streaming obscured the picture until recently, according to a letter to shareholders.
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What happened last week in Ukraine? Check out this explainer from Yahoo Immersive to find out.
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