Finland and Sweden have reportedly decided to join NATO in early May in response to the Russian attacks on Ukraine. Finland’s Minister for European Affairs said that they are “highly likely” to join NATO at a press conference this past week. Sweden’s governing party has made it clear that they will follow their lead. Their official application will be submitted in June, with U.S. officials showing support. In order for approval for the countries to join, they need a unanimous vote from all 30 NATO members.

As Russia’s neighboring countries, Finland and Sweden have been wary in the past of joining NATO when there were not clear outlines of the group’s intention. They believed that military neutrality is the best approach to maintain national security. However, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin noted that “everything changed when Russia invaded Ukraine,” as it was a huge breach in their feeling of security with Russia as they share a 830 mile (1,335 km) border. Both country’s citizens have been against joining NATO in the past, but in the last month there are record numbers of people in favor of membership.

If Finland and Sweden were to join, they would reportedly receive an increased number of U.S. troops in Nordic nations, intelligence cooperation, and increased presence of NATO ships in the Baltic sea.

However, there are significant drawbacks and safety concerns with the countries joining NATO as Russian foreign minister spokeswoman Maria Zakharova explicitly stated after the invasion that “if Finland and Sweden join NATO, it will entail serious military-political consequences that would require an adequate response from the Russian side.” With this threatening statement, the response could range in severity and endanger all countries who are involved in NATO.

It is quite a political statement for these two countries to join NATO at this point, but it is the correct one in the search for maintaining a standard of human rights. In order to continue to apply pressure to Russia to end their attacks on Ukraine, several avenues of stress are necessary, especially from those who have in the past been in solidarity. With that said, it is important to look at the security and safety risks for their citizens if Russia were to strike either Finland or Sweden. Both countries will need to carefully analyze their decisions, with the greater goal of promoting international human rights and taking a stand against the major injustices that are occurring.

Moving forward, there will be several meetings between country officials in May to finalize their motivations and goals in joining NATO before submitting an application.