Finnish President says his country will apply for NATO membership if the security situation deteriorates
The President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö stated in his interview with Dagens Nyheter daily that Finland will apply for membership of NATO in case the security situation deteriorates. “We can’t exclude the possibility of applying for NATO membership. It would be a serious mistake because it’s a tool of national security policy and Russia knows that we have this tool,” Niinistö noted.
“We are developing our partnership and cooperation with NATO at this stage. If we see significant deterioration of security situation, we can apply for NATO membership,” the President stressed.
Niinistö believes that it’s obvious that the referendum on Finland’s membership in NATO is necessary. Without the referendum the public resentment to the Finland’s membership in the Allience will be strong. The Finnish President noted that NATO also requires that the majority of the citizens support their country’s membership in the Alliance.