Finland To Join NATO – Burning Issues

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For decades, Finland refused to take sides for or against Russia, a position that kept the peace but also confined its sovereignty.
In light of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its neutrality policy may soon change as the Nordic country that shares a 1,340km (830-mile) border with Russia contemplates joining the NATO military alliance.

According to a report, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that discussions on possible NATO membership should take place at several levels with a view to establishing a national consensus.
Responding to the conversations of Finland mulling to join NATO has Russia upset, as Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced that if Sweden and Finland were to become members of NATO, the move “would have serious military and political consequences”.

Hedging their bets

Sweden and Finland are taking multiple approaches to guarantee their security.
Both are members of Nordic Defence Cooperation, a regional security grouping with NATO members Iceland, Denmark, and Norway.
Both have also enhanced their security cooperation with each other, with the EU, and through security arrangements with the UK, Denmark, and the Baltic States.
Sweden and Finland have also increased their cooperation with the US in really historic ways.
On March 5, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto met President Joe Biden in Washington, where they committed to strengthen US-Finnish security cooperation.
During their meeting, they also spoke with the Swedish prime minister, highlighting the very close relationship between Finland and Sweden.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 30 countries that border the North Atlantic Ocean. The Alliance includes the United States, most European Union members, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Turkey.

According to the report, a recent poll by public broadcaster Yle found 53 per cent of Finns now support joining NATO, a dramatic rise from merely 19 per cent five years ago.
And a citizens’ petition on holding a referendum on Finland’s NATO bid gathered the 50,000 signatures needed for parliament to debate it in less than a week.

However, Finland’s interest in joining NATO also lies in its shared complicated history with Russia.
The country has had an on and off relationship with Russia going back centuries.
In the collective history of both the countries there have been wars and sufferings starting from 1808 when Russia took Finland from Sweden.
Later Finland was allowed a special status under Russian Tsar Alexander II’s empire. It had its own currency and an almost free of interference administration, however, Finnish was not an official language till 1902.
Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin granted Finland independence after the Russian Revolution in 1917.
In November 1939, Lenin’s political protege Joseph Stalin attempted to invade Finland, which came to be known as the Winter War.
As per a 1948 treaty with Moscow, Finland promised to join neither NATO, nor the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact.
Even though Finland moved closer to the West and joined the European Union in 1995, it remained cautious of its bigger neighbour, with which it shared diplomatic as well as trade ties.
It is to be noted that one of the reasons behind Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the latter’s increasing association with NATO and the US.

Since the end of World War II and the signing of the treaty, both countries have remained militarily neutral.
The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement, “All OSCE member states in their national capacity, including Finland and Sweden, have reaffirmed the principle that the security of one country cannot be built at the expense of the security of others.”

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe {OSCE} is the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organisation with an observer status at the United Nations.
Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections.

NATO accession requires all members to approve and ratify the decision and can be a years-long process.
Nevertheless, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently said that it should be possible for Sweden and Finland to join “rather quickly” given their “high level of interoperability” with NATO.
The process could take “only a few months,” and NATO members could extend provisional security guarantees to them during ratification, which could be the longest phase.
Amid the turmoil in Europe, the two Nordic countries face a decision with significant geopolitical implications.

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