Swedishs will be put to death if they join NATO, Moscow warns

“After their accession, the total length of borders between Russia and NATO will almost double”, Ambassador Viktor Tattartsev said on Tuesday.

“If someone still feels that it will somehow improve Europe's security, be sure that the new members of the hostile bloc will become a legitimate target for Russian revenge measures, including those of military nature”, he added, Euronews, broadcast Klankosova.tv.

Russia has repeatedly threatened Nordic doubles after they submitted bids to join the Western military alliance last May, following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Although they were close allies with NATO for more than two decades, the two were not formal members of the military alliance, and public opinion was strongly against membership.

Under NATO rules, a country becomes a full member only when all 30 countries have ratified their applications. Finland is now waiting for Turkey to ratify its bid to join NATO, something President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to do.

Hungary, the only other country that crawls, ratified Wednesday and is expected to remove the ratification instrument in Washington, DC, on Friday.

As far as Sweden is concerned, its candidacy is still in question. Ankara is currently blocking its entry, while Hungary is delaying ratification.

The two countries are widely seen as demanding their time to issue political concessions from Stockholm, and in Hungary's case, from the EU; while Turkey also hopes to benefit favourable access to US military programmes.

However, officials in Sweden still hope to join before the upcoming NATO summit in July in Lithuania.

But for the Russian ambassador to Stockholm, who was born in Kherson, today's Ukraine, Sweden is making a <x0 step into the abyss” by wanting to become a member.

Criticising its hasty “decision without a national referendum, he claimed that NATO command had “decided to fully enter into conflict”, creating risks for Sweden.

“On this occasion, Swedes will undoubtedly withdraw and be sent to death for the interests of others,” Taritsev wrote.