Both the President of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, and the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, have come out in support of abandoning Finland’s long-held position of neutrality. They have stated that the Nordic nation should become a member of the NATO military alliance as a response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The move, which is expected to happen quickly and at the same time as that of neighboring Sweden, would mark a major shift in Europe’s security structure and flies in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has said that he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in part to halt the further expansion of NATO to its borders. The move is expected to happen quickly and at the same time as that of neighboring Sweden.
Moscow had a stern response to the announcement, stating that it would consider taking “necessary steps in order to balance the situation” if Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, joins the alliance.
“A participation in NATO would improve the state of security in Finland. If Finland joined NATO, it would make the organization’s overall defensive capabilities stronger. Immediately submitting an application to join NATO is a requirement for Finland. We have high hopes that during the next few days, the national actions that are still required to make this decision will be done swiftly “In a statement issued jointly on May 12, Niinisto and Marin made the following statement.
After Russia invaded its neighbor Ukraine without provocation in February, there has been a resurgence in the discussion of whether or not Georgia should join NATO.
The next stage for Finland is to hold a meeting of a special committee on May 15, which will include the country’s president, prime minister, and up to six additional cabinet members. It will be responsible for making the official decision about the submission of an application from Finland.
The idea will then be brought before parliament on May 16 for the purpose of a discussion.
Despite the fact that no official date is anticipated to be announced soon for when admission may take place, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will host a summit in Madrid on June 28-29.
Officials from NATO have suggested that the accession procedures for Finland and Sweden may be signed at that time provided the formal applications were sent to the desk of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg by the end of the month of May.
Stoltenberg provided his reaction to the news by stating that Finland’s accession will be “smooth and rapid.”
The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, was quick to congratulate the joint statement and said that his nation would “warmly welcome” Finland into NATO since the decision will enhance the alliance and “our shared security.”
In a subsequent tweet, he elaborated by saying that his country will “do everything” to ensure a speedy admissions process after the submission of the official application.
As a result of the news, it is very inevitable that Finland will submit an application, and it is anticipated that both it and Sweden will have relatively little difficulties integrating into the alliance.
Both nations joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1994, and they became Enhanced Opportunity Partners in the organization 20 years later. The two entities make it possible for nations that are not members of NATO to work more efficiently with the alliance.
The process of ratifying membership typically takes over a year since the national parliaments of all 30 NATO members are required to discuss and vote on the subject. This happens regularly after the topic is first discussed in the committee.
However, high-ranking politicians and officials from both Sweden and Finland have been busy traveling to different NATO capitals over the last several months in order to propose that certain procedures be significantly hastened.
