Updated 19 minutes ago
Finland shares a border with Russia of regarding 1,300 km
Finland’s president and prime minister have called for their country to apply to NATO for membership “without delay”.
In a joint statement, Sauli Niinisto and Sana Marin said they expect a decision in the matter within the next few days.
The move comes amid rising Finns’ support for their country’s NATO membership, especially following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Finland shares a border with Russia of 1,300 km. So far, Finland has stayed away from NATO in order to avoid antagonizing its eastern neighbor.
For his part, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Finland’s announcement of its desire to join the alliance. Stoltenberg said the accession process would go smoothly and quickly.
For his part, European Council President Charles Michel described Finland’s bid to join NATO as a historic step capable of strengthening European security. Michel said that the European Union and NATO have never been closer.
Estonia also welcomed the Finnish announcement, saying it was a step that might make a big difference to security in the Baltic region. But a senior defense official warned that a Russian attack on the Baltic states was no longer ruled out.
Finland will officially announce its decision next Sunday following it is discussed in Parliament and other major political circles in the country.
Sweden said it would announce a similar decision on the same day.
‘revenge steps’
For its part, Russia said it would have to take “retaliatory steps” in response to its neighbor Finland’s move towards joining NATO.
A statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Finnish move would spoil relations between the two countries, as well as harm security and stability in Eastern Europe.
In its Russian-language statement, the Foreign Ministry described Finland’s move as a “radical change in the country’s foreign policy.”
The statement said that “Finland’s accession to NATO will seriously harm Russian-Finnish relations and will harm stability and security in the Eastern European region.”
The statement added that “Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, of a military-technical and other nature, in order to neutralize the threats to its national security as a result of this.”
However, Moscow has not specified what steps it plans to take if the governments of Finland and Sweden abandon their long-standing policy of military neutrality.
“Very quickly”
Earlier this month, Moscow warned Finland and Sweden of the consequences of joining NATO, saying that this step would not bring stability to Europe.
“The alliance remains an instrument aimed at confrontation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
In February, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, warned of “military and political consequences” if the two countries joined the alliance.
But NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg says he expects the process of granting Sweden and Finland membership to the alliance “very quickly”.
In their joint statement, Finnish President Niinistö and Prime Minister Marin said they had wanted to give the Finnish people a space to discuss the matter, but that the time for a decision was approaching.
“NATO membership would enhance Finland’s security. As a NATO member, Finland would enhance the overall strength of the defense alliance. Finland should apply for NATO membership without delay,” the statement said.
A poll conducted last week indicated that support for Finns to join NATO rose to 76 percent, compared to 12 percent who opposed it – indicating a significant tendency to obtain NATO membership since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Finland stood hostile to the Soviet Union during World War II, and the Finns were famous for confronting the Soviet invasion during the period between 1939 and 1940.
But Finland lost 10 percent of its territory under the final peace agreement and remained neutral during the Cold War.
Finland’s accession to NATO would double the length of Russia’s border with the allies. As for Sweden, it does not share any borders with Russia.
