Finland welcomes NATO ‘strong support’ in case of accession process

Finland today thanked the NATO Secretary General for his “strong support” following the promise of “arrangements” to protect the country in the event of the process of joining the Western alliance, which lasts for months.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto had a telephone conversation today on the growing possibility of Finland joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Stoltenberg has once again given his strong support to the Finnish decision,” Niinisto said in a statement issued after the talks.

Article 5 of the Mutual Defense of NATO Members shall apply only to members and not to the period between candidacy and accession.

This morning, the Norwegian leader of the Alliance stated that he is “confident that we will be able to find arrangements for the interim period”, during the press briefing.

The aid concerns Finland as well as Sweden, which also intends to end its non-alignment to join the US-led alliance.

The Finnish parliament last week began debating NATO membership to better protect itself from a possible attack by neighboring Russia, with which the country shares a border of about 1,300km.

The head of government, Social Democrat Sana Marin, said in mid-April that the decision would be taken in a few “weeks” and Finnish Minister for European Affairs Tuti Tupurainen acknowledged that a request was “very likely”.

The invasion of Ukraine has resulted in Finnish and Swedish public opinion voting in favor of NATO membership, now with a large majority to become members.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ