Finland is on the way to becoming a member of NATO after decades of non-alignment. President Sauli Niinistö published an on Thursday together with Prime Minister Sanna Marin corresponding statement. Such a step must be taken “without delay,” it says. The background is the war of aggression against Ukraine, which is being waged by neighboring Russia.
Joining NATO would strengthen Finland’s security, but also the entire alliance, the statement said. They hope that the necessary decisions will be taken in Finland in the coming days, write Niinistö and Marin.
In the past few weeks, both have traveled to numerous NATO countries for talks. The USA, Germany and other NATO members have expressly stated that they want to support membership applications from Finland and Sweden should the two Nordic states decide to do so. Sweden is also likely to make a decision on the NATO issue in the coming days. If both countries submit official applications for membership, then these could be approved at the NATO summit in Madrid by the end of June at the latest, after which the parliaments of all 30 NATO members must agree. If Finland joins NATO, the Russian government has already threatened unspecified “consequences”.
The initial reactions of Denmark, Lithuania and Estonia welcomed the Finnish leadership’s statement. “I’m happy about this great historic day!”, wrote Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė on Twitter. “History is made by our northern neighbors,” hers wrote Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas.
So far, Finland and Sweden have been close partners of NATO, but they are not official members. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting rapid change in the security situation in Europe have triggered intense debates in both EU countries about joining NATO. Finland shares a border with Russia that is more than 1,300 kilometers long, and Sweden is just as close to the Baltic Sea as Greater Russia. The three other Nordic countries Denmark, Norway and Iceland have been part of the alliance since it was founded in 1949.
For a long time, Niinistö was seen as a kind of link between the EU and Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the Ukraine war fundamentally changed the situation. In Finnish polls, this resulted in a drastic change in opinion towards joining NATO, with 76 percent of those surveyed most recently in favor of such a step. Several parties have also signaled their support for such a motion.
Niinistö’s word carries weight in his country. He and the government ultimately decide together whether Finland will submit a NATO application. On the way there, the government published a security analysis in April, in which the advantages and risks of a possible membership are examined – without taking a position for or against a corresponding application.
A separate security policy analysis will be published in Sweden on Friday. At the weekend, the governing Social Democrats in Sweden under Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson want to present their current NATO position. If they decide to join, that would be the decisive building block on the way to the country’s NATO application. Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde and Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto are also at a NATO meeting in Berlin on Saturday. Next week, Niinistö will finally travel to Sweden’s King Carl XVI. gustaf