Click Today, 00:001 Putin woke up NATO from "brain death"The opinion of a German journalist and researcher

When Finland cleared the final hurdle to NATO membership, major Western newspapers buried the news in the mainstream. Meanwhile, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto deservedly celebrated “these historic days” – the end of 75 years of neutrality. Finland has now officially joined NATO, and Sweden – another eternally neutral country – will soon follow, as soon as Turkey stops obstructing its membership in the organization.

What irony! One of Putin’s many pretexts for invading Ukraine was to stop NATO expansion once and for all. Instead, by bringing two neutral Nordic countries into the alliance, he has achieved the opposite. Today, NATO is in better health than it has been in decades.

However, all the credit does not go to Putin alone. NATO has never been as sclerotic as Macron and Trump believed it to be. It is the oldest alliance of free nations, and sustainability is a testament to its ability to function. In past centuries, royal houses changed coalitions more often than their wigs. As Lord Palmerston famously said, “We have no eternal friends, and we have no eternal enemies.”