Finland debates NATO accession: “We’re going to be a value added to NATO”
Issued on: 21/04/2022 – 13:53
06:08
Finland inched closer to joining NATO after its major parliamentary groups expressed support for some form of a military alliance as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Finnish Parliament began debating this week the possibility of Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, joining NATO. FRANCE 24 is joined by Alexander Stubb, former Prime Minister of Finland, to weigh in on the Nordic country’s possible accession to NATO. “Finns are quite consensual when we take foreign and security political decisions,” explains Mr. Stubb. “When you’re a small country and you’re living next to a revisionist, aggressive, totalitarian and imperialist state, you have to balance between idealism and realism. And realism is now that Putin has attacked Ukraine and he could do the same thing somewhere else,” warns Mr. Stubb. “So, we never want to be left alone again. That’s why we have a strong standing army and that’s why we’re going to be a value added to NATO.”