Legislators are due to begin a debate on Finland’s NATO membership on Monday after management announced on Sunday to apply for membership.
"It is clear in which direction Finland’s NATO membership is moving." Helsingin sanomat newspaper write.
According to the newspaper, more than two-thirds of MPs support membership. This means that there is an over-majority if the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs declares that such a majority would be necessary when the application is returned to the legislature for ratification.
the Turkish dilemma
On Friday, the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO would be "out" Turkey must be accepted because the Nordic countries supported Kurdish separatists.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut CavusogluHowever, he now says that Sweden is a bigger problem than Finland, he says Hufvudstadsbladetreferring to the Turkish broadcaster TRT.
"The Finnish Foreign Minister is very respectful of our position, but we do not see the same on the Swedish side," he said.
Haavisto said on Sunday that Finland’s position against the Kurdish militant group PKK is in line with the EU, which has classified it as a terrorist group.
All new members must be accepted by all 30 NATO members.
Gas pain
Financial messages examines the economic consequences of Russia cutting off gas exports to Finland.
A branch of Ilta-Sanomat said that many Finnish companies are looking for alternative solutions to cut off Russia’s gas.
Heli Tammivuori According to the Finnish Food Industry Association, gas plays a key role in many areas of Finnish food production. He pointed out that bakeries heat their ovens with gas and coffee roasters use gas to roast beans. According to Tammivuori, gas also plays a key role in the meat processing and dairy industry.
More than five percent of the energy used in Finland is natural gas, but its loss would still have a serious impact on the economy and employment, as it plays a key role in industrial production.
Minister for Economic Affairs of Finland Mika Lintilä (Cen) has said that if Russia cut off gas supplies at the end of May, it would affect Finnish industry more than the cessation of Russian oil imports.
Source: The Nordic Page