The invasion of Ukraine has reignited the debate over Nato membership in non-aligned Finland as nations bordering Russia face potential threats from the Kremlin.
A petition calling for Finnish membership of the alliance passed the threshold to force a debate in parliament, while one opinion poll hinted at a surge in support for joining Nato.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin said public opinion was changing and that the debate was “in full swing and will certainly intensify”, but stopped short of backing the proposal herself.
While supporters of Nato membership say it would guarantee Finland’s security against Russia, others fear it could drag the country into any military confrontation and upend its delicate relations with Moscow.
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre border and a troubled history with Russia and has generally sought stability in its relationship with Moscow, preferring to co-operate with Nato in drills and some operations rather than joining the alliance.
But it has sided with Ukraine in the current crisis and announced last week that it was sending 2,500 assault rifles, 1,500 anti-tank weapons and other equipment to Ukraine.
It comes with Sweden’s policy of neutrality similarly up in the air after it likewise shipped weapons to Ukraine, and Baltic countries — Nato members — shoring up their defences against their Russian neighbour.
Nato describes Sweden and Finland as its closest partners. Both countries take part in alliance exercises and contributed troops to Nato operations in Afghanistan.
Russia has threatened “serious political military and political repercussions” if Finland and Sweden were to join the alliance, echoing its concern about Nato expanding into Ukraine or Georgia.
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Damage after the shelling of buildings in central Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA -
Workers from a local construction company weld anti-tank obstacles to be placed on roads around Kyiv as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters -
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Ukrainian volunteers prepare food for displaced people outside Lviv railway station in western Ukraine. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher north-east of Kyiv. AFP -
Ukrainian refugees rest at Warsaw East train station in Poland. EPA -
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A girl who fled Ukraine is reunited with her father in Medyka, south-eastern Poland. AP Photo -
Tears outside a house damaged by a Russian airstrike in Gorenka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP Photo -
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A Ukrainian civil defence member in the garden of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike. AP Photo -
Members of the US Army 3rd Infantry Division board a plane bound for Germany in Savannah, Georgia. EPA -
Prayers for peace in Ukraine at the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square. AFP -
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Debris which locals say was caused by shelling in separatist-controlled Horlivka, Donetsk. Reuters -
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Distraught women and children fleeing Ukraine wait to enter Poland at the Korczowa crossing. Getty -
Newborn Ivan lies next to his mother as they shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters -
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Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at the Kharkiv National University building, which city officials said was damaged by Russian shelling. Reuters -
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A woman is consoled by a volunteer after fleeing from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the border crossing in Siret, Romania. Reuters -
A Ukrainian civilian in the city of Zhytomyr practises throwing petrol bombs. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy poses after an interview with Reuters in Kyiv. Reuters -
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A girl in Siret, Romania, covers herself with a blanket after fleeing from Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, acknowledges applause from US first lady Jill Biden as they attend President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address in Washington. AFP -
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Civilians cross a river on a blown-up bridge on Kyiv's northern front. Defending the capital is a 'key priority', Ukraine's president has said. AFP -
Russian aircraft on the ground at Luninets Airbase, Belarus, about 50 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border. AFP -
People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha. AP -
A woman with a child who fled from the war in Ukraine reunite with their family after crossing the border in Medyka, Poland. AP -
Animal keeper Kirilo Trantin comforts an elephant at Kyiv Zoo. AP -
An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha. AP -
Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv, western Ukraine. AP -
Paramedics move a man who was wounded by shelling in a residential area of Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. AP -
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike in Zhytomyr. Reuters -
US actor and director Sean Penn attends a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Kyiv. Reuters -
Demonstrators participate in a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Lafayette Square in Washington. AFP -
Ukrainian soldiers rest while others eat near the front line with Russian troops in northern Kyiv. AP -
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Members of the European Parliament applaud after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech at a special session to debate its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Reuters -
Ambassadors and diplomats walk out as Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (on screen) speaks during a recorded message at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. EPA
Although neither country has yet said it wants to join Nato, both have bristled at the idea of Russia removing the option from the table.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto brushed off the Russian threat and said: “We’ve heard this before.”
“Should Finland be Nato’s external border, it rather means that Russia would certainly take that into account in its own defence planning,” he said.
Finland last year ordered $11 billion worth of F-35 fighters from US warplane manufacturer Lockheed Martin. President Sauli Niinisto told his counterpart Joe Biden that he appreciated the door to Nato being kept open.
The Finnish government also praises Nato for guaranteeing the stability of the nearby Baltic states, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The former Soviet republics have been members of both the transatlantic military alliance and the EU since 2004.
US President Joe Biden said last week that the “full force of American power” would be used to “defend every inch of Nato territory” if it came under attack.
Lithuania’s foreign minister meanwhile urged Britain and other Nato governments to alter the alliance’s air policing role from deterrence to defence as Russia stepped up its attack on Ukraine.
“That means that we need anti-air, anti-rocket [defences],” said Gabrielius Landsbergis. “We need all the credibility to defend the territory as Nato would defend any other territory in its alliance.”
But Nato has made clear in Ukraine that non-members are not covered by the alliance’s Article 5 security guarantee and cannot expect the US and its allies to send combat troops in their defence.
Bringing Finland under the Article 5 umbrella would “significantly improve the credibility of Finland’s defence”, said the authors of the Nato petition, which called for a referendum on the issue.
The opposition National Coalition Party supports Nato membership but accepts that any accession would have to have broad support.
Ms Marin's ruling Social Democrats are more cautious. One of its MPs, Kimmo Kiljunen said it was an open question whether Finland would be safer or more vulnerable in the alliance.
“At its worst, we would be in the forefront, the target of the first attack of the Great War, and the first to be sacrificed on a chessboard,” he said.
Whatever happens to the current regime in the Kremlin, “what is left is the people and country of Russia, which is a permanent neighbour of Finland,” he said. “We need to get along with each other.”
