Sauli Ninistö, President of Finland [사진 제공: 연합뉴스]
The Finnish government has decided to give up its military neutrality after 74 years and join NATO.
According to the AP and AFP news outlets, Finland’s President Sauli Ninistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin held a joint press conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki on the 15th local time to announce that “they have decided to submit an application for membership in NATO.”
“The president and the government foreign policy committee, after consulting with parliament, have jointly reached an agreement that Finland will apply for NATO membership,” he said.
The announcement comes three days after President Niinistö and Prime Minister Marin jointly expressed their position on the 12th that “Finland should apply for NATO membership without delay.”
Finland, a Nordic country that shares a border with Russia for 1,300 km, has maintained military neutrality since 1948.
This is because, although it is a member of the European Union (EU), it has considered relations with neighboring Russia.
However, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, public opinion in Finland sharply shifted in favor of NATO membership.
NATO membership requires parliamentary approval, but the process is considered formal, the Associated Press reported.
A majority of 200 MPs are said to be in favor of Finland’s accession to NATO.
After the parliamentary approval process is completed, Finland will formally apply for membership at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, which is expected to be submitted within the next week.
Russia has strongly opposed Finland’s move to join NATO.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned on the 12th that if Finland joins NATO, it will take countermeasures, including ‘military and technical measures’.
On the 14th, President Ninistö called Russian President Vladimir Putin to explain his plans to join NATO, the Kremlin said. I did.
However, unlike most NATO member countries that welcome Finland’s accession, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on the 13th that Finland’s “not a positive stance” on joining NATO is mentioned as a last-minute variable.
According to NATO rules, membership in a new member state is only possible with the unanimous consent of the existing member states.
