The Finnish Parliament preemptively approves NATO membership

On Wednesday 1 March a majority ruled in the Finnish legislature to enter the Western military alliance. It still lacks Hungarian and Turkish approvals.

Via Le Figaro with AFP

Posted Upgrade

With an overwhelming majority, the Finnish parliament on Wednesday gave early approval to the Nordic country’s entry into NATO on March 1. Ratifications of Hungary and Turkey More essential ones. Members of the Finnish parliament voted 184 votes in favor and 7 votes against the law approving Finland’s entry into the Western military alliance.

As a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland’s entry under the NATO umbrella would end half a century of neutrality and three decades of military non-alignment enforced by Moscow. With outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s government due to be elected on April 2, Helsinki wanted to avoid any political vacuum to jump on the NATO bandwagon once the Ankara and Budapest accords were reached. If necessary, without waiting for neighboring Sweden, a candidate since last year, but currently facing the Turkish ban. Unlike Sweden, Finland’s entry is viewed positively by Ankara.

This content is not accessible.

“Read more – NATO: Erdogan is increasingly closing the door on Sweden

Almost unanimous support

The outcome of the referendum in the Finnish parliament was beyond doubt in a preliminary vote last May, with 188 of 200 votes cast. Before the invasion of Ukraine, the support of the parties, including those unfavorable to NATO, was almost unanimous. Only a handful of far-left and far-right MPs voted against, notably not pledging that no nuclear weapons would be placed on Finnish soil.

See also  California is covered in snow due to unusual blizzard

Adoption of Finnish law does not mean that Helsinki will automatically accede after Hungarian and Turkish ratifications. But that could go very quickly after pro-NATO President Sauli Niinisto gave the nod and sent ratification documents to Washington. Talks between the three countries on joining NATO are set to resume in Brussels on March 9, after being suspended by Turkey due to diplomatic incidents with Sweden.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *