Russia to Develop Measures Against Sweden's NATO Membership

On Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia will closely monitor Sweden's actions following the country's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"We will closely monitor what Sweden will do within the aggressive military bloc, how it will implement its membership in practice... and develop our response policy based on this," she said, adding that Moscow will choose which measures it will take, including military-technical ones, to curb threats to Russia's national security.

Zakharova recalled that Sweden's traditional non-alignment policy used to be an important factor in maintaining stability in Northern Europe, adding that the country's NATO membership will further undermine its sovereignty.

Previously, on Monday, Hungarian lawmakers approved a bill on Sweden's bid to join NATO, clearing the way for Sweden's accession to the military alliance.

During the second congress of the International Movement of Russophiles, Zakharova also referred to the West-financed NGOs that are acting as geopolitical instruments and trying to politically destabilize the countries that formerly belonged to the Soviet Union.

"The result of their so-called work is inevitable destabilization of the socio-political and economic situation in these countries, which creates the so-called belt of instability around Russia," she said, as reported by the TASS agency.

"Financial support is rendered to various extremist, political, and religious organizations," Zakharova pointed out, adding that the discredit campaigns of the governments and political forces in such countries seek to prevent their people from developing their own political, religious, and moral values.