Finnish Parliament approves decision to apply for NATO membership (comprehensive)

Finnish prime minister watches parliament vote

HELSINKI (AFP = Yonhap News) Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin (centre) watches a parliamentary vote for approval of an application for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on February 17 (local time). Congress approved the NATO membership application by an overwhelming majority. 2022. 5. 17 [email protected]

BRUSSELS (Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Jong-un = Finland’s parliament on the 17th (local time) approved the government’s decision to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Associated Press reported.

The Finnish parliament approved the government’s decision to join NATO with an overwhelming majority of 188 votes out of a total of 200 seats.

Earlier, the Finnish government announced on the 15th that it had decided to apply for NATO membership.

As a result, the Finnish parliament started a parliamentary debate on the issue of joining NATO the day before, and it was put to a vote today.

Parliamentary approval is not required, but both President Sauli Ninistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin emphasized the importance of parliamentary involvement in NATO membership applications, the Associated Press reported.

Finland is now expected to sign an official application for accession and submit an application to NATO headquarters along with Sweden in the next few days.

Sweden earlier announced that it would sign an official application for NATO membership and forward it to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Sweden and Finland have maintained a neutral stance following a long-standing policy of military non-alignment, and have maintained cooperative relations with NATO without joining NATO.

However, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, public opinion in both countries appeared to have changed in a more favorable direction for NATO membership, sparking a debate over NATO membership, which ultimately led to the decision to apply for NATO membership.

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