Finland Defense Commission in Favour of NATO Membership

The Finnish Defense Commission advises the government to join NATO. The committee of parliamentarians concludes that membership in the military alliance is best for Finland’s security.

 

Since the war in Ukraine, Finland’s voices have risen to join NATO to protect the country from threats from Russia. Finland shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia.

The Finnish ruling party will announce its position on Saturday. There already seems to be a majority favouring accession in the Finnish parliament. This is probably also the case in Sweden. The Swedish ruling party is likely to decide on Sunday.

Finland and Sweden did not join NATO before to maintain a good relationship with Russia and therefore the Soviet Union and remain neutral. That position has changed for many citizens after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Three out of four Finns are now in favour of joining NATO. However, Moscow has already threatened that any accession would have “political and military consequences”.

The two Scandinavian countries already work closely with NATO militarily, but all thirty current member states will have to agree before joining. But, according to Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, that is not a problem and Finland, and Sweden can join soon.