The move is a stunning reversal of Finland’s military non-alignment policies
The President of Finland – Sauli Niinistö and the Prime Minister of Finland – Sanna Marin today, i.e., Sunday, May 15, 2022, officially confirmed to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
This comes after Niinisto had a telephonic call with the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin on Saturday, i.e., May 14, 2022. During the call, Putin warned Niinisto that joining NATO would be a “mistake”.
Putin also confirmed that there is no threat to Finland’s security. Niinistö told Putin how recent moves by Russia, along with the invasion of Ukraine, “have altered the security environment of Finland.”
A statement from Kremlin read, “Such a change in the country’s political orientation can have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations developed over years in a spirit of good neighbourliness and co-operation between partners.”
However, it is to be noted that prior to Ukraine invasion, Putin had always denied plans of attacking Ukraine. Separately, the Foreign Minister of Russia – Sergey Lavrov had indicated that there will be retaliation.
Finland shares a 1,300 kms (810 miles) border with Russia. Until now, it has stayed out of NATO to avoid antagonising its eastern neighbour.
Taking it to twitter, Niinisto tweeted (translated to English), “A new era opens up – a protected Finland is born as part of a stable, strong and responsible Nordic region.” Original tweet in Finnish:
Uusi aikakausi aukeaa – syntyy suojattu Suomi osana vakaata, vahvaa ja vastuunsa tuntevaa Pohjolaa. https://t.co/XP7Ncbsrt6
— Sauli Niinistö (@niinisto) May 15, 2022
Speaking on the occasion Marin said, “We are close partners to NATO but it is a historic decision that we will join NATO and hopefully we are making the decisions together.”
The official twitter handle of Finnish Government tweeted,
The President and the Ministerial Committee agreed that Finland would apply for membership in NATO after the Parliament has been heard.
— Finnish Government (@FinGovernment) May 15, 2022
The report on Finland’s accession to NATO will proceed to Parliament once the government has endorsed it.
More:https://t.co/8xAfFD2OP2 pic.twitter.com/jFYJUiz4tA
A day before, Russian energy supplier RAO Nordic suspended the supply of electricity to Finland citing problems with payments. Finland said that Russian move had not caused any problem. Finland said that Russian imports which accounted for around 10% of national supply, could be replaced with alternative sources.
Separately, Sweden also confirmed plans to join NATO. The Secretary General of NATO – Jens Stoltenberg confirmed Finland and Sweden have updated NATO members on their stance on joining.
The President of Turkey – Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is a close ally of Russia has condemned the move and has accused both countries of harbouring “terrorist organisations”.
