Finland in NATO, decision “by the end of May”

In Finland, support for NATO membership “has increased in all parties. As with many Finns, the Russian invasion has changed our position. For decades, NATO support languished at around 20%. Now the mood is on. changed, and a lot. After Easter the Parliament will start the discussion. And the final decision could come by the end of May “. This is what the Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen said in an interview with ‘La Repubblica’. “After the discussion in Parliament we will need the opinion of the government and the president – he added referring to the discussion of the white paper presented yesterday by the government – But I think that the request for membership may arrive even before the summer”. Regarding the risk of a reaction from Moscow, he says: “I think we could see a period of hybrid raids. But I don’t want to speculate. The Russians have said they will react, somehow. And I think they will invest more military forces in this part of the country. ‘Europe, on the western flank “. The minister believes there may be movements along the border, “but it is too early to tell. At some point, if the war with Ukraine ends, Russia could move troops to Murmansk and other regions close to the borders. Although it should be remembered that in some areas it already has a military presence “. “We have kept our army in shape for decades. Even after the Cold War, when many European countries cut military spending – he continues – We have a strong army: a fighting capacity of 280 thousand soldiers plus 900 thousand reservists. It is one of the major European armies. And last year we bought 64 F-35 jets and this year we invested 2.9 billion more in defense. We have the will and the ability to defend ourselves. “