Finland officially renounces its neutrality status with the decision to join NATO

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto at a press conference with Prime Minister Sanna Marin on May 15 afp/getty

“Today, we, including the president and the commission policy foreign affairs of the Finnish state, making a decision that Finland will apply join NATO,” President Niinisto said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Sanna Marin at the presidential palace in Helsinki, according to Reuters.

Mr. Niinisto on May 14 called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to inform the Finnish government’s decision. Owner Kremlin warned that the move could threaten bilateral relations between Russia and Finland.

“Neither myself, nor Finland, have the habit of hiding and quietly disappearing into a corner. It’s better to tell everything directly to the parties involved and that’s what I want to do,” the Finnish president shared about the content of the phone call with Putin.

For his part, Prime Minister Marin expressed: “We hope the parliament will approve the government’s proposal and apply to join NATO in the coming days”.

The move marks a historic policy shift in which Finland renounced its neutrality status after Russia launched its campaign. military especially in Ukraine from February 24.

Russia, which shares a border of more than 1,300 kilometers with Finland, has warned Helsinki would make a mistake if it joined the military alliance.

Moscow officially stopped supplying electricity to Finland on May 14, amid rising tensions over Helsinki’s determination to join NATO.

Also on May 14, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that Moscow would take appropriate precautions if NATO deployed forces and nuclear infrastructure near Russia’s borders.