Russia warned: If you do that, you will become a target

President of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, warned that if the mayor of the Finnish border town of Lappeenranta (a Finnish city about 30 kilometers away from the Russian border) hosted a NATO military base, it would be targeted by the Russian army.
Kimmo Jarva, the mayor of Lappeenranta, indicated that his city would like to host a military base.
Finland's Yle TV1 quoted Jarva as saying that formal accession to NATO would bring a "sense of security" to people and businesses in the South Karelia region.
The speaker of the Russian State Duma said the mayor is wrong about the way security works, due to the fact that military infrastructure would be the first target if there was a conflict between the two nations.
"Hospitality by NATO bases would not protect either Finland or Sweden. On the contrary, it would expose the residents of cities where military infrastructure is located to attack," Volodin wrote on social networks.
Lappeenranta, with about 70.000 inhabitants, is located some 20 km from the Russian border. Finland and fellow Nordic country Sweden applied to join NATO earlier this year, and are expected to become full members soon, once all current member states ratify their accession.
Both countries broke their long-standing tradition of neutrality to join the organization, claiming it was necessary because of Russia's military operation in Ukraine.
The governments of both countries have stated that they will not be obliged to host NATO bases or nuclear weapons on their soil.