The final decision will be made by the President.
Finland's Parliament voted to join NATO on May 17 , reports Yle .
The decision was supported by 188 out of 200 deputies, opposed by only eight. <
Next, the issue of joining NATO should be discussed by the government, the final decision is made by the President. Saule Niinisto can do so today, May 17, during a working visit to Sweden.
Accession to NATO has been under discussion in the Finnish Parliament since the morning of 16 May. Yesterday, deputies heard 212 speeches during 14 hours. This morning, they rejected an alternative proposal to continue Finland's neutrality policy.
Read also: Defense and EU accession: Zelensky held “productive” talks with German Chancellor
that Finland and Sweden plan to apply for NATO membership in May . Thus, both countries have decided to speed up the accession process without waiting for the Alliance's summit in late June.
Finland and Sweden have long been synchronizing their security and defense policies. Unlike their neighbors Denmark and Norway, which are members of NATO, Sweden and Finland had to rely on themselves. When it turned out that Russia was a much more dangerous neighbor than it seemed, Sweden and Finland reconsidered their position on NATO. Read more in the article by Alina Gritsenko “ Finland is one step away from NATO membership: what will Russia answer “.
