NATO membership: Finland's president announces position
Created: 05/12/2022, 04:36
Finland's President Sauli Niinistö at a press conference in Helsinki.
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
The Ukraine war triggered intense NATO debates in Northern Europe.
Finland's state leadership is now likely to dictate whether the country will apply to join the alliance.
Helsinki/Stockholm - On the way to possible NATO decisions in Finland and Sweden, the decisive days are dawning in the far north of Europe.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö wants to announce his position on his country's possible NATO membership today.
The announcement is considered groundbreaking as to whether Finland will decide to apply to join the military alliance in the wake of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
If the country decides to do so, it is likely to put further pressure on neighboring Sweden to make a timely decision on the NATO issue as well.
Already close NATO partners
According to Finnish media reports, Prime Minister Sanna Marin also wants to position herself on the NATO issue today.
It is possible that her decision will come at the same time as Niinistö's.
In the past few weeks, the two have traveled to numerous NATO countries for talks, as has Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
The USA, Germany and other NATO members have expressly stated that they want to support applications from Finland and Sweden if the two Nordic countries decide to do so.
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, Sweden is just as close to the Baltic Sea as the giant empire.
The three other Nordic countries Denmark, Norway and Iceland have been part of the alliance since NATO was founded in 1949.
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Niinistö, who is considered to be well-considered and level-headed, has long been considered a kind of link between the EU and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, the Ukraine war fundamentally changed the entire situation.
In surveys, there was a drastic change in opinion towards Finland joining NATO. In a recent measurement, 76 percent of those surveyed were in favor of such a step.
Several parties have also signaled their support for such a motion.
Debate also in Sweden
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 announcing a position for or against a corresponding application.
A separate security policy analysis will be published in Sweden on Friday.
At the weekend, both Marin's and Andersson's Social Democrats want to reveal their current NATO position - if they are in favor of joining, that would be crucial building blocks on the way to NATO applications from their respective countries.
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
dpa
