FINLAND CONFIRMS ITS NATO MEMBERSHIP BID

Sun 15 May 2022:

Finland confirmed its decision to join NATO on Sunday, saying it is ready to talk to Turkiye about the objections it has raised against the Scandinavian country’s participation.

In a joint press conference with Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Finland’s Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy approved the country’s application for NATO membership.

“Meille tärkeintä on Suomen ja suomalaisten turvallisuus.”

TP-UTVA linjasi, että Suomi hakee Naton jäsenyyttä, kun eduskuntaa on kuultu. Pääministeri @MarinSanna kertoi päätöksestä lehdistötilaisuudessa. pic.twitter.com/uQbwqlJwnY

— Valtioneuvosto | Statsrådet (@valtioneuvosto) May 15, 2022

Niinisto said he is ready to meet with Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the issues that the Turkish president raised recently about Finland’s membership, particularly that the country was tolerating extremists and far-left terror groups, including the PKK, which is on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations.

Noting Helsinki’s surprise at Turkey’s negative approach to their membership, Niinisto said: “Now, we need a very clear answer.”

He underlined that his country was entering a new era, describing Sunday’s step towards membership as a “historic day.”

Prime Minister Marin also said the decision to apply for NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security.

The Finnish parliament is expected to approve the decision on Monday.

Joining Nato would be ‘mistake’

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned his Finnish counterpart that joining Nato and abandoning Finland’s neutral status would be a “mistake”.

He told Sauli Niinistö there was no threat to Finland’s security.

The exchange came during a phone call made by the Finnish president

Finland shares a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia. Until now, it has stayed out of Nato to avoid antagonising its eastern neighbour.

Putin did not make a specific threat of retaliation over Finland’s move, but the Russian foreign ministry has indicated there will be retaliation.

Nato, a Western military alliance, was founded in part to ward off threat from the Soviet Union in 1949.

President Putin has mentioned Ukraine’s intention to join the alliance as one of the reasons for the invasion of its neighbour.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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