HELSINKI (Dagbladet): A week into the war was the number record 53 percent, and the majority a fact for the first time. Two weeks later it has grown to 62 percent. The number of Finns who want the country to join NATO has never been higher.
The proximity to the war in Ukraine has left its mark on Finland. Three out of four answer that they fear Russia.
With the ongoing war, the fear of attack on Finland has also grown greater than in decades. Minister of Defense Antti Kaikkonen nevertheless rejects that the time has now come to apply for membership. At the same time, Prime Minister Sanna Marin has been very cautious in her statements about a possible NATO membership.
At the beginning of March, however, she went so far as to say that Finland is continuously considering applying for membership. Until then, the country is trying to strengthen cooperation with NATO.
– The NATO debate is in full swing and is guaranteed to be more intense, Marin said at the beginning of March, and was right.
The situation is more acute than ever.
STRENGTHENED COOPERATION: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Photo: Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva / AFP / NTB
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A drastic change
Slowly, but surely, the share that is for NATO has become larger and larger. But never before have we been close to this. The latest results have been like an earthquake and have drastically changed the political debate, says Lauri Nurmi, to Dagbladet.
The political journalist in the newspaper Iltalehti has followed the debate and the political situation more closely than most in recent weeks. He believes his homeland has been naive in recent decades.
– Finland has for years believed that if it did not irritate Putin and Russia, the situation would remain peaceful. The debate resumed when Russia attacked Georgia in 2008. But now NATO is by far the hottest topic in the political discussion, says Nurmi.
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– Does not feel safe
Dagbladet has been in contact with a number of residents in Helsinki and several Finnish cities near the border with Russia. While the vast majority of them want to join NATO, there is also great uncertainty regarding the timing. The fear that a membership will increase the risk of an attack is real.
According to Nurmi, however, the politicians who are against NATO have calmed down in the debate. According to him, the reason is simple.
“Both politicians and the people fear an attack and feel insecure about whether Russia will attack Finland, unless Finland has security in NATO’s Article 5”, which guarantees military assistance in the event of an attack on member states, “the Iltalehti journalist said.
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For four years, Jussi Niinistö served as Finland’s Minister of Defense. Also during his period from 2015 to 2019, the debate about Finland’s NATO membership was heated. Nevertheless, the support was never close to what is now seen in the country.
– The change we are now seeing is historic. There were other times when I sat as minister. I think that when Ukraine was attacked, the Finns felt sympathy. They saw the same scenes as when Finland was attacked by the Soviet Union during the Winter War, Niinistö told Dagbladet.
VISIT TO NORWAY: Finland’s then Minister of Defense, Jussi Niinistö, during a visit to Oslo in 2018. Here with Norway’s Minister of Defense Frank Bakke-Jensen and Iceland’s Foreign Minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson. Photo: Tore Meek / NTB
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– Absolutely the right time
The former defense minister in no way believes the country has seen the peak of NATO support. He predicts that the polls will pass both 70 and 80 percent in favor of membership.
He himself is in no doubt about what he means today.
– I disagree with today’s Minister of Defense. Right now, while Russia is fighting in Ukraine, is definitely the right time for a membership. Times have changed. I also think the most conservative parties see this now, says Niinistö.
– Brews up to panic
He says that during his period as Minister of Defense, there were several discussions about a NATO membership. In his eyes, Finland should have applied for membership as early as the 1990s, when the country joined the EU. But according to Niinistö, it was then stranded on the political will.
– It was not possible, because several of the parties and the president were against membership. Instead, we tried to get closer to NATO, without becoming a member. But today I have no doubt. Finland should apply for membership, the former Minister of Defense states.
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