The President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, and the Finnish Government confirmed this Sunday, May 15, the intention of the Nordic country to apply for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, which is expected to be ratified by Parliament next week.
Finland is one step closer to joining NATO. The announcement comes amid pressure from the Kremlin, which has assured that abandoning the position of neutrality that the country has maintained for decades would be “a mistake.”
However, the Finnish authorities were emphatic in ratifying that the invasion of their neighbor Russia to Ukraine is the fundamental reason for this geopolitical change that the leaders called “historic”.
In a joint press conference, President Sauli Niinistöa member of the National Coalition (Liberals), and the Prime Minister, the Social Democrat, Sanna Marinaffirmed that, with this decision, their country begins today a path towards “a new era”.
They made it clear, however, that the initiative must now be ratified by Parliament, which they urged to debate in a “determined and responsible” manner. All parliamentary representations gave their permission to move forward with joining NATO, with the exception of the Left Alliance, which has not issued a statement so far.
Finland’s eventual entry into NATO would mean an end to almost eight decades of military non-alignment. It is also up to the 30 countries that make up the military alliance to unanimously approve the entry of a new member. In addition to Finland, Sweden is expected to take similar steps in the coming days.
Marin thanked the support he has received from various nations for accession. Most NATO member countries have given their approval to the arrival of Finland and, eventually, Sweden. However, the opposition voice has come from Turkey, whose government, in the hands of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, expressed concerns by assuring that the Nordic countries are home to organizations that he considers “terrorists”.
On Sunday, the Finnish president was willing to talk with his Turkish counterpart to smooth things over and NATO expressed confidence that the barriers raised by Ankara can be overcome. The process could take several months, although many are betting on a quick approval for Finland.
Meanwhile, relations between Moscow and Helsinki are breaking up. Russia accuses its northern neighbor of threatening the security of Europe by opening a new flank, since both countries share nearly 1,300 kilometers of border. And the possible accession of Finland to NATO would have exactly the opposite effect to the one desired by Vladimir Putin when he announced the start of a “special military operation” in Ukraine. That is, to prevent the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from continuing to expand eastward, closer to its borders.
On Saturday it was also revealed that Russia had cut off the electricity supply to the neighboring country, arguing that the corresponding payments had not been made.
Russia supplies small amounts of gas and oil to the Nordic country, which has already been preparing for this, in accordance with the decisions of the European Union to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.