Often referred to as the happiest country in the world, Finland worries about its safety. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, she has had her sights set on her Russian neighbour. The two states have nearly 1,300 km of common border and polls show growing concern. For years, the Finns in favor of joining NATO were in the minority – 20 to 30% – but for several weeks, it’s been quite the opposite. Supporters of membership now represent three quarters of the population. It is therefore with the support of his people that the Finnish President announced, on Thursday 12 May, his desire to join “without delay”.
>> War in Ukraine: follow the latest news in our live
Ioanna, 47, a social worker, is one of those who recently changed her mind. She feels that Finland is too small a country to defend itself: “Finland’s neutrality suited us well before, but now Russia is out of control and Finland has no choice but to join NATO.” “The priority is the security of Finland”abounds Atte Harjanne, Finnish Green MP who has long defended his country’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The elected ecologist was one of the few to take this position in his political family. But everything has changed, in his party as in society. A shift, says this member of the Parliament’s Defense Committee: “We thought for a long time that we could maintain a constructive relationship with Russia, but after what happened in Ukraine, I think a majority of Finns have lost all faith in Russia. And we have seen the support for NATO membership will skyrocket. We are no longer a neutral country, we are part of the European Union. We have supported Ukraine by delivering weapons to it.”
“We are a sovereign state, we have the right to choose our partners. But I want to stress that joining NATO is purely a defensive act. We are not threatening anyone.”
Atte Harjanne, Finnish Green MPat franceinfo
Véronika Honkasalo, member of the Finnish Left Alliance, is not at all pro-Russian, she insists on underlining it. She denounces the authoritarian regime of Vladimir Putin but is one of the elected representatives opposed to the idea of seeing Finland join NATO: “NATO membership will accelerate militarization, will heighten tensions in the Baltic Sea region and I fear that NATO’s nuclear umbrella will legitimize the nuclear weapons doctrine. ‘NATO stress that this could be seen as a provocation and that we must be prepared for all types of threats, especially on the eastern border. We have had a tradition of non-alignment for so long and suddenly, too quickly, we realize a fundamental change.”
“What kind of NATO member will we be? Are we going to allow troops to be stationed on our territory? Or nuclear weapons? I’m afraid this membership will increase tensions.”
Veronika Honkasalo, Finnish Left Alliance MPat franceinfo
No sign of military escalation on the Russian-Finnish border so far. But, according to the Finnish Defense Ministry, last week a Russian helicopter violated Finnish airspace, the second such incursion in a month.