So it has finally been decided. Finland is making the necessary legislative changes to join NATO. It is clear after an overwhelming majority: 187 out of 200 mandates in the Riksdag voted for it. 7 voted against. But it was not entirely without drama, because this should actually have been adopted on Tuesday. Shortly after the meeting on Tuesday was set, Markus Mustajärvi of the Liberal Alliance put forward a proposal to reject the NATO agreements. POSTPONED: The Finnish Riksdag had to postpone the vote on the changes to the law that open the way for Finnish entry into NATO. Photo: Emmi Korhonen / AP He also made three new proposals. That Finland must make it clear that nuclear weapons will not be placed on Finnish soil (they will most likely never be asked to do so). This is not specified in the legal text. He also suggested that Finland should ban other countries’ armed forces from being permanently stationed in Finland. And the third was a demand that Finland should not be used as a base by NATO countries to carry out hostile purposes against others. New vote Thus, these proposals had to be voted on before the Riksdag could finally take a position on Wednesday on the legal text which ensures that the country is ready to join NATO. For the record: They were rejected. There are no plans for nuclear weapons on Finnish soil and NATO has stated that it is not relevant to have permanent NATO bases in either Sweden or Finland. Both countries already have a good and well-equipped defence. What the Finnish Riksdag formally did today is, simply explained, that they approved that they must follow NATO’s statutes. This had to be done before they could be admitted as members. What remains after this, for Finland, is that Hungary and Turkey, which have both said they approve Finland’s NATO application, actually do. Then President Sauli Niinistö must sign the law change. It is expected that he will do so very soon. MUST SIGN: Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö must sign the law change before it comes into effect. Here with Stoltenberg last summer. Photo: Brendan Smialowski / AP Once all this is in the box, all that remains is some paperwork in Brussels and Washington. Then Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, or perhaps preferably Defense Minister Mikko Savola, can sit down at the table in NATO’s headquarters in Brussels. Then they don’t just have to listen to the discussions (which they are entitled to as an applicant country). Then they can actually also vote and decide in Nato. And they have the full protection of the much-discussed article five – “an attack on one member state is an attack on all”. The wait is over This week there were also reports that Turkey will not necessarily process Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO applications at the same time. Thus, Finland can more or less suddenly get a Nato yes at any time. On 2 April there are parliamentary elections in Finland. Although there was, and most likely will remain after the election, broad agreement to apply for NATO membership, both the Riksdag, the government and the president want the formalities to be in place before the Riksdag election. Finland could not wait any longer. 30 TO 32: With Finland’s and Sweden’s Nato membership, the number of member states will increase to 32. Photo: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP The moment the president has signed these changes to the law that were adopted today, they apply. But it has caused a bit of a headache in Finland. Because theoretically, the president could have waited several months and thus given Sweden an opportunity to get guarantees from Turkey that their application was approved. Then the countries could enter together. But after a reasonably sweaty press conference inside a storeroom at the Swedish prime minister’s official country residence, Harpsund, a couple of hours outside Stockholm on February 22, the president repeated, almost to the bored, that he had to sign the law before a new Riksdag was in place. STRAIGHT: Space was tight when the President of Finland, the Prime Minister of Sweden and the Prime Minister of Norway held a press conference in a storehouse at Harpsund at the end of February. Photo: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP So it will happen very soon. Maybe as early as Wednesday or later this week. Finland has its own security and 1,340 kilometers of border with Russia to think about. If Turkey is serious about processing Finland’s application first, then there are only small formalities left before Finland can be admitted as a member. But what about Sweden? It has looked dark. And when it could hardly look darker, it got a little darker for the Swedish NATO process. What was supposed to be a spring when the country was to make plans for its future contribution to Nato and find out which military capacities needed to be strengthened, has been characterized by diplomatic headaches. Kurdish activist groups hung a doll of Erdogan outside the City Hall in Stockholm. On 21 January, Rasmus Paludan set fire to the Koran right outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. RAGE: After the burning of the Koran in Stockholm, angry Turks responded by burning the Swedish flag in Istanbul. Photo: YASIN AKGUL / AFP Turkey reacted with fury against Sweden. It simply looked completely black and white for Sweden to get Turkey to agree to let them into NATO. “We go in together and at the same time”, has been the tone of the review every time a Swedish or Finnish politician has been asked direct questions. The countries, which have very strong diplomatic and economic relations, stood side by side. But something changed when the problems arose for Sweden. The door that was opened, closed, opened closed and opened again On the Monday after Paludan’s Koran burning in Stockholm, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto was a guest on the morning program on YLE, the Finnish equivalent of news. Here he opened the possibility that Finland could continue the NATO process without Sweden. The news went around the world. And several times Finnish politicians, including Haavisto, had to correct the statement. When Sanna Marin, Finland’s Prime Minister, was in Stockholm on 2 February, she slammed the door shut for anyone who thought Finland would go ahead with the NATO process without Sweden. And assured that the countries would continue the process together. OPEN THE DOOR OPEN: Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (left) opened to open the NATO door without and Tobias Billström and Sweden. Photo: Virginia Mayo / AP But a few days later, the parties in the Riksdag decided that the formal vote on changing the legislation, so that the country can follow NATO’s statutes, should be held before the Riksdag election. Thus, it looks more and more like Sweden has to realize that they have to walk the last part of the NATO road alone. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in January that this is the most serious security challenge the country has faced since the Second World War. Although many countries, and even NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, have given Sweden security guarantees should something, contrary to presumption, threaten Swedish security during this period, there is a small “but”. No matter how you look at it, Sweden is not covered by the much-discussed article five of NATO’s statutes as long as they remain outside it. Thus, they cannot demand that all countries in the alliance turn their noses at Sweden, should they feel threatened. It was fine to stay out of alliances for 200 years. But now Sweden has chosen a side. They are no longer neutral. Therefore, there are many who feel exposed in Sweden. Although there is no indication that any external enemy will threaten Sweden. LEOPARD: Sweden began to look at which missions they could solve in NATO. Then the process stopped. Photo: TT NEWS AGENCY / Reuters And neither does Hungary, which promised to ratify the Swedish and Finnish Nato application last autumn, appear to be having a bad time. This week the message came that they “maybe” ratify the applications by the end of March. The only question is whether the Swedish defense minister will have to settle for continuing to be a member when the NATO summit takes place in Vilnius on 11 July. That Finland will then have all NATO rights on the menu seems more and more certain.
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The obstacles to Finnish NATO membership have almost been cleared – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
