Finnish Parliament votes 95% for NATO membership
Prime Minister Sanna Marin in the Finnish Parliament on May 17, 2022 during the NATO membership vote.
AP - Emmi Korhonen
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Finnish Parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of joining NATO with an overwhelming majority of more than 95%, allowing the official candidacy of the Nordic country to be sent to the headquarters of the alliance.
Advertisement
Read more
At the end of a two-day parliamentary session, the plan to join NATO was adopted by 188 votes for, eight against and no abstentions, according to the results of the ballot which took place in the Finnish Parliament.
The candidacies of Finland and Sweden, a direct consequence of the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow, were formalized respectively on Sunday and Monday.
An overwhelming majority was expected in the Finnish Parliament, but the final score still goes beyond the latest projections.
“
It's an exceptional result, I didn't expect it to be so clear.
The vote is clear, no more discussion, this
(Tuesday)
evening we will sign our NATO candidacy letter
,” Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on television after the vote.
After this parliamentary green light, Helsinki can send its candidacy to NATO headquarters in Brussels,
simultaneously with Sweden
.
This will "
probably
" take place on Wednesday, according to Pekka Haavisto.
The signed Swedish application form
Stockholm, where Parliament was consulted on Monday, is also ready: Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde signed the Swedish application form on Tuesday morning, during a ceremony.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson are due to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Thursday, the White House announced.
After a spectacular leap in favor of membership in public opinion, Sweden and Finland deemed it necessary to place themselves under the NATO umbrella in the face of a Russia capable of militarily invading one of its neighbours.
The two countries would thus turn the page on decades of neutrality and then of military non-alignment.
Membership, which requires the unanimity of NATO's 30 current members, has however faced an unexpected obstacle since the end of last week,
with the opposition displayed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
.
Turkey accuses them – and especially Stockholm – of showing too much leniency towards the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, although it is on the EU list of terrorist organisations.
(
With
AFP)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Finland
Sweden
Russia
NATO