Finland’s Center Party Nears Decision to Back NATO Application

[Boats]

Finland’s Center Party Nears Decision to Back NATO Application
By: Leo Laikola - Bloomberg News - 04-09-22
Re: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...to-application

Finland’s Center Party leadership rallied around a potential NATO membership bid in yet another sign the Nordic country is nearing an application to join the defense alliance following neighboring Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

The party, a junior member in a five-party cabinet run by Social Democrat Prime Minister Sanna Marin, is a key political force in Finland with widespread support in rural areas. The party has not previously advocated joining the bloc, traditionally leaning toward fostering a trade relationship with Russia instead.

Its leader, Finance Minister Annika Saarikko, on Saturday asked party dignitaries for their approval to take any security-policy decisions deemed necessary, including an application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, should the government want to take that step. She was backed by Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen.

“Finland’s security environment changed in the early hours of Feb. 24 as Russia launched its attack” on Ukraine, Saarikko said in a speech distributed by email on Saturday. “Two cornerstones of our security -- a rule-based international order and a functioning relationship with Russia -- crumbled beneath our feet.”

The Center Party is due to take an official decision on Saarikko’s proposal during the weekend.

Among Finland’s biggest parties, the opposition National Coalition has been a NATO proponent for years, while the Social Democrats are re-evaluating their stance of shunning the idea of membership. The anti-immigration Finns Party, also in the opposition, became supporters of NATO entry following Russia’s attack.

Read More: Swedes, Finns Worry About Security Risk on the Path to NATO
Re: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...e-path-to-nato

Note: Diplomats cite risks in ‘grey zone’ between bid and acceptance
Russia has repeatedly warned both nations against joining NATO
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Personal note: I feel they will both sign up with NATO just to cover their ass
should things get dicy in the near future. Russia's threats of consequence
may delay one or the other to reconsider that issue but in the long run
NATO will work with them for added assurance.

[Boats]

Swedes, Finns worry about security risk on the path to NATO
By: Miami Herald - Kati Pohjanpalo & Natalia Drozdiak - Bloomber News - 04-09-22
Re: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nat...260264735.html

As Sweden and Finland deliberate joining NATO, the two countries are seeking more clarity on how to bridge the gap between filing their applications and when the military alliance’s security guarantees would kick in with full membership.

While there is little sign that the two Nordic nations would struggle to secure acceptance, Russia has repeatedly warned both against joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and so they are concerned about potential aggression from Moscow if they formally signal their alignment with the western bloc.

Public backing for joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization underwent a historic shift in both nations after Russia invaded Ukraine, and in Finland, almost half of all lawmakers now openly support an application.

As policy makers have gone on a diplomatic overdrive to remove any doubts about being welcomed by all members, they seek more certainty about near-term guarantees that they wouldn’t be left alone against Russia. NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause only applies to members.

“Finland’s concern over the gray zone between the membership application and full membership” is “quite well understood among NATO countries,” Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Thursday.

It could take between four months and a year for the 30 NATO members to ratify their applications, Haavisto said, signaling he’d been given indication countries would be willing to hurry the process.

Asked about their possible memberships, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier this week that he expected all 30 allies would welcome them if they decided to apply. He said NATO “will find ways to also address the concerns” about the interim period.

Finland and Sweden already have some degree of collective security commitments through their membership of the European Union. Article 42.7 of the EU treaty states that if a member is the victim of armed aggression, other members have the obligation to aid them, but this doesn’t bind the U.S. in the way that their membership in NATO would.

NATO officials say they would welcome Finnish and Swedish membership and point to long and deep partnerships with the countries, including through regular joint military exercises with their armed forces.

Any membership bid from Sweden hinges on the ruling Social Democrats changing their stance, while Finns appear to have made up their minds to join and are putting together a parliamentary process designed to engage lawmakers from across the political spectrum.

A security-policy white paper due in Helsinki next week won’t contain a proposal for joining, but the government and president are prepared to submit an addendum on that “when the time is right” after they are satisfied lawmakers back the bid, Haavisto said.

“I think we will end the discussion before midsummer,” Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters on Friday, referring to a holiday that falls on June 25 this year. “We will have very careful discussions, but we will also not take any more time than we have to in this process, because the situation is of course very severe,” she said.

Sweden and Finland have for years worked closely with allies on military interoperability, on exercises, training and also meet NATO standards when it comes to political, democratic, civilian, control over the security institutions and the armed forces, Stoltenberg said.

“There are no other countries that are closer to NATO,” Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.

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