Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin, and President Sauli Niinisto announced on Sunday 15 May that Finland will apply for NATO membership. The decision to apply is a direct response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The decision marks a decisive change in decades of Finnish policy towards NATO and changes more than two centuries of Swedish policy. Sweden has historically avoided all military alliances in order to maintain neutrality but, like Finland, it has also grown closer to NATO as time as gone on.
The decision to join NATO by Finland and Sweden stands as a significant blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who invaded Ukraine in February.
Within the announcement, Niinisto said “This is a historic day,”, adding that joining NATO will show that “a new era begins.” The move by Finland is certainly viewed as significant, due to the monumental change in military policy.
Marin also stated that Joining NATO is “an act of peace [meaning] that there will never again be war in Finland in the future. Additionally, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, suggested that: “To ensure the safety of Swedish people, the best way forward is to join NATO together with Finland.”
The Finnish Parliament is expected to approve the decision in the coming days, but this approval is largely considered a formality. Sweden’s Social Democrats stated on 15 May that they would be backing joining NATO. This approval marks a large parliamentary majority in favour of the move.
In Sweden the move to join NATO was debated on Monday 16 May. There is support for the joining of NATO within the country. Sweden also doesn’t need parliamentary approval to progress with the application.
Finland and Sweden are both expected to make formal applications to NATO later this week. They will also be aiming to hand in their applications to NATO together.
The majority of Finnish people had historically opposed joining NATO due to the fear of provoking Russia. However, the invasion of Ukraine shocked the Finnish people significantly. A recent poll within Finland demonstrated that 76 percent now supported joining NATO.