Finland prepares for a historic decision on its entry into NATO

Finland This week it enters the decisive phase regarding its possible entry into NATO, something unthinkable just two months ago, before the invasion of Ukraine, and it will probably make a final decision in June.

LOOK: Mariupol, about to fall into Russian hands and the fighting rages in eastern and southern Ukraine

The Nordic country’s government plans to publish, initially on Thursday, a “white paper” on the country’s security and the consequences of recent actions by its Russian neighbor.

This strategic study, commissioned at the beginning of March, will be the starting point for a debate in Parliament that will last several weeks.

Like FinlandSweden is also studying the question of its entry into the NATO.

“We will have very cautious talks, but we will not take more time than necessary,” Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Friday.

“I think we will have finished our debate at the end of June,” said the Social Democrat leader.

“I think the request will be submitted sometime in May,” to allow a decision at the summit of the NATO to be held in Madrid at the end of June, former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, a supporter of accession, told AFP.

– Intensive consultations –

In the last weeks, Finland has held consultations with almost all 30 members of the NATO.

Like its neighbor Sweden, the country received clear guarantees of the Secretary General of the NATOJens Stoltenberg, that the door was open and received many expressions of support, from the United States to Germany, passing through France and the United Kingdom.

The change in public opinion has been dramatic: polls now suggest that 60% of Finns are in favor of membership, twice as many as before the Ukraine war.

The percentage of those who are against has dropped to close of the twenty%.

Although not all have spoken, there is also a clear majority in favor of the NATO among the deputies.

This is the case of Joonas Kontta, a deputy from the Center Party, who believes that the alliance is “something we did not need”. However, the Russian invasion “changed Europe, without turning back” and “being a member of the NATO it would give us more value in terms of security,” he told AFP.

Vladimir Putin, who justified the invasion of Ukraine by expanding the NATOcould find a border of 1,340 kilometers with the western military alliance.

– “Serious consequences” –

Moscow regularly threatens Finland and Sweden with “serious political and military consequences” if it joins the NATOa warning that has been repeated in recent weeks.

The Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, recognized at the end of March that a candidacy of the NATO could elicit “bold” responses from Russia (websites of the government were targeted by cyberattacks on Friday).

According to Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, the NATO considers that it would take between four and twelve months to finalize the accession.

In theory, Finland (5.5 million inhabitants) is a very good candidate, with a record number of reservists.

“We can mobilize between 280,000 and 300,000 men and women in a few days,” Stubb said.

After ordering 64 US F-35 fighters at the end of 2021, the country has just approved a 40% increase in its military budget between now and 2026 and will be well above the 2% PIN recommended by the NATO.

Finlandwhich was a Russian Grand Duchy until its independence in 1917, was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939 in a three-month war with fierce resistance that has drawn parallels to the war in Ukraine.

After a new war (1941-1944) against the Soviets, the country Nordic it was subjected to forced neutrality throughout the Cold War, the so-called “dynamization” under close Moscow supervision.

Only in the 1990s did it join the European Union and become a member of the NATO.

Source: Elcomercio

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