Finnish government issues security report

The Finnish government recently published a new security report that identifies membership in the EU as a fundamental security policy choice for Finland, but sees strong reasons also to consider Finnish NATO membership.

The new Finnish security report states that the European Union is an important venue for Finland as regards combating many key security threats, and that an internationally strong Union, capable of action, also serves Finland’s interests.

On the NATO question, the reports notes that Finland regards NATO as the most important military and security cooperation organization. NATO’s objectives, tasks and obligations are analogous with the foreign and security policy goals of Finland and the EU. The Government states that there will continue to be a strong case for considering Finland’s membership of NATO in the future as well. The previous report, from four years ago, said: “Applying for NATO membership remains a possibility for Finland in the future as well”, YLE reports.

According to YLE, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen insisted that the new wording does not mean a change in policy.

- The NATO option remains open. It will not be closed, but it will also not be activated now, Vanhanen said.

However, there are differences in emphasis in the interpretations that have been put on the report by various ministers. Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb feels that the report puts emphasis on strong reasons to consider Finnish membership, which was not the case in the previous one.

President Tarja Halonen is happy with the final result.

- We have been of the opinion that we need to have this kind of option, a possibility if we want to apply for membership. After all, NATO is the one that makes the decision. But it (the membership application) was not considered topical, and in that respect I do not think that there is anything new, Halonen said.

Halonen reportedly followed the preparation of the report with the idea that it should include no hidden messages promoting NATO membership. The Centre Party insisted that the report also evaluate disadvantages of NATO membership.

The report notes that a decision on joining NATO would require extensive political agreement, and that public opinion also needs to be considered.

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