Left Alliance chair Li Andersson has called for a careful assessment of Finland’s possible NATO membership due to the changed situation in Europe.
At a party council meeting on Saturday, Andersson said the decision to apply for NATO membership would no longer lead to his party resigning from the government.
The party joined the coalition government led by the SDP three years ago on the condition that it would not lead the country into any military alliance.
According to Andersson, Finland does not have completely risk-free or problem-free alternatives.
He declined to express his own position on the issue, arguing that policymakers should allow free public debate before revealing their own views.
"[We] the leaders of the states have been criticized for not presenting our own position on NATO," he said. "But what is the point of launching an analysis of the different options if the decision-makers in charge have already locked themselves in a position and informed everyone about it?"
The Minister of Education called for an open debate on the subject in the Left Alliance, which is traditionally Finland’s strongest anti-NATO party.
Growing support for membership among the left
Andersson stressed the importance of measuring public opinion on the issue. Proponents of the Left Alliance have called for a referendum before the decision to join the alliance – a process that is likely to take more than a year.
Yle’s opinion poll, published this week, showed growing support for NATO membership among supporters of the Left Alliance, although support remained lower than other parties. A majority of supporters of all other parties are in favor of membership.
The poll showed that more leftists are in favor of NATO membership than opposed to it, and many are insecure.
The Party Council of the Left Alliance will launch a review of the various options and their implications for security in Finland and Europe. However, the party does not intend to decide on its official line before the Pori conference next June.
The Left Alliance was founded in 1990 as the main successor to the Finnish People’s Democratic Union (SKDL), which formed around the old pro-Soviet Finnish Communist Party.
Source: The Nordic Page