Helsinki, April 20 (AFP\/APP): Finland’s parliament Wednesday will open a debate on whether to seek NATO membership, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked a surge in political and public support for joining the military alliance.<\/p>\n
Despite Russia warning of a nuclear build-up in the Baltic should Finland and neighbouring Sweden join the military alliance, Finland’s prime minister said that her country would now decide quickly on whether to apply for membership.<\/p>\n
“I think it will happen quite fast. Within weeks, not within months,” Prime Minister Sanna Marin said last week.<\/p>\n
Sweden is also discussing whether to submit a membership bid following Russia’s February 24 invasion.<\/p>\n
The 200 MPs in Finland’s Eduskunta last week received a government-commissioned “white paper” that assessed the implications of NATO membership alongside other security options, such as increased bilateral defence agreements.<\/p>\n
The report did not make recommendations but stressed that without NATO membership, Finland enjoys no security guarantees despite currently being a partner to the alliance.<\/p>\n
It said the “deterrent effect” on Finland’s defence would be “considerably greater” inside the bloc, while noting that membership also carried obligations for Finland to assist other NATO states.<\/p>\n
After two decades of public support for NATO membership remaining steady at 20-30 percent, the war sparked a surge among those in favour to over 60 percent, according to opinion polls.<\/p>\n
“I used to be against joining NATO but because of this situation I’m now more in favour,” said 24-year-old Sofia Lindblom, walking her dog in central Helsinki on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
“Joining would bring a certain kind of security,” she told AFP.<\/p>\n
On nearby Senate Square, Vuokka Mustonen said the invasion of Ukraine has “utterly changed” her opinion in favour of NATO membership.<\/p>\n
“I feel pretty safe, but quite worried,” the 69-year-old said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Helsinki, April 20 (AFP\/APP): Finland’s parliament Wednesday will open a debate on whether to seek NATO membership, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked a surge in political and public support for joining the military alliance. Despite Russia warning of a nuclear build-up in the Baltic […]<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":43575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-world-news"],"yoast_head":"\n