Tag Archives: Finland

ABC News reports: Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb won the first round of Finland’s presidential election Sunday and will face runner-up ex-Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto [photo] in a runoff next month. The vote largely centered on the Nordic nation’s new role as a NATO front-line country with Russia, and the security situation in Europe, particularly Russia’s assault on Ukraine. With …

Reuters reports: Finland will on Monday Dec. 18 sign a defence cooperation agreement with the United States, the Finnish government said on Thursday, to grant the U.S. military broad access across the Nordic country to the vicinity of its long border with Russia. Russia’s Nordic neighbour Finland became the NATO military alliance’s newest member earlier this year in response to …

Reuters reports: Finland formally joined the NATO military alliance on Tuesday in a historic policy shift brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, drawing a threat from Moscow of “countermeasures”. Finland’s accession roughly doubles the length of the border that NATO shares with Russia and bolsters its eastern flank as the war in Ukraine grinds on with no resolution in …

The Associated Press reports: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Finland will become the 31st member of the military alliance on Tuesday. “From tomorrow, Finland will be a full member of the alliance,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels. Stoltenberg said that Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand its official texts to U.S. Secretary of State Antony …

The New York Times reports: Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her Social Democratic Party lost a tight election in Finland on Sunday to a center-right party that focused on economic concerns. The National Coalition Party, led by Petteri Orpo, 53, captured the most votes in the parliamentary election, followed by the right-wing Finns Party and the Social Democrats. But no …

The Associated Press reports: Finland’s Parliament gave final approval Wednesday to the Nordic country’s bid to join NATO, with lawmakers signing off on membership along with the required legislation. The 200-seat Eduskunta legislature voted 184-7 to authorize Finland’s accession to NATO, clearing the last required domestic hurdle to becoming part of the 30-member Western military alliance. Two of NATO’s 30 …

Politico Europe reports: Hungary’s government supports the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland and has submitted the ratification documents to the National Assembly, Minister Gergely Gulyás told reporters at a briefing on Saturday. Gulyás, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said the expansion of NATO to include the two Nordic countries would be ratified by mid-December at the …

The New York Times reports: The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a treaty that would expand NATO to include Finland and Sweden, with Republicans and Democrats linking arms to pave the way for one of the most significant expansions of the alliance in decades amid Russia’s continued assault on Ukraine. The vote was 95 to 1, with only Senator Josh …

The Hill reports: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Monday said he would vote against Finland’s and Sweden’s bids to join NATO, a move that would go against most of his colleagues from both sides of the aisle. In an op-ed published by The National Interest, Hawley says the United States shouldn’t expand its security commitments in Europe due to a …

The Associated Press reports: The 30 NATO allies signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland on Tuesday, sending the membership bids of the two nations to the alliance capitals for legislative approvals — and possible political trouble in Turkey. The move further increases Russia’s strategic isolation in the wake of its invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February …

Sky News reports: Turkey, Sweden and Finland have signed a memorandum for the two Nordic states to join NATO, removing a Turkish block to the accession process. It comes after the leaders of the three nations spoke at a NATO summit in Madrid. The traditionally neutral nations decided to apply for NATO membership following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of …

The Associated Press reports: A small brewery in Finland has launched a NATO-themed beer to mark the Nordic country’s bid to join the Western military alliance. Olaf Brewing’s OTAN lager features a blue label with a cartoon version of a beer-drinking medieval knight in metal armor emblazoned with NATO’s compass symbol. The beer’s name is a play on the Finnish …

Reuters reports: Turkey’s approach to the NATO accession process of Sweden and Finland is not a bilateral issue between Washington and Ankara, the U.S. State Department said on Friday, but added that Washington was speaking with Ankara and it remained confident that the dispute would be overcome. While the problem officially is between Sweden, Finland and Turkey, many analysts have …

The Guardian reports: NATO is on the cusp of adding two new members to the mutual defense alliance and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and President Sauli Niinistö of Finland are meeting Joe Biden at the White House to discuss the security of Europe. The two Nordic nations say they’ve been forced into the decision by Russia’s invasion of …

Reuters reports: Turkey has told allies that it will reject Sweden and Finland’s membership to NATO, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in a video posted on his Twitter account on Thursday. Finland and Sweden formally applied on Wednesday to join U.S.-led NATO, a decision spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey’s objections have come as a surprise to the other …

The Washington Post reports: Turkey blocked the start of Finland and Sweden’s accession talks to NATO on Wednesday shortly after the Nordic nations submitted their formal applications, a signal of what could be a bumpy process to expand the alliance and reshape Europe’s post-Cold War security architecture. Turkey’s resistance deprived Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of the consensus he needed to …

Politico Europe reports: The ink was still drying on Sweden and Finland’s applications to join NATO on Tuesday when Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö arrived at the royal palace in Stockholm in a horse-drawn carriage. Niinistö’s state visit is seen as a potential bookend over accession by the two Nordic states into the Western defense alliance. Earlier Tuesday, in front of …

The Associated Press reports: Sweden and Finland on Tuesday pushed ahead with their bids to join NATO even as Turkey insisted it won’t let the previously non-aligned Nordic countries into the alliance because of their alleged support for Kurdish militants. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strongly worded objections caught the two applicants and other NATO members off guard, complicating what …

Reuters reports: Russia said on Monday that the West should have no illusions that Moscow will simply put up with the Nordic expansion of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance to include Sweden and Finland, casting the move as a mistake that would stoke military tension. “They should have no illusions that we will simply put up with it – and …

Reuters reports: Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto confirmed on Sunday that his country would apply for membership of the NATO military alliance, in a historic policy shift prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow, which shares a 1,300 km (800 mile) border with Finland, has said it would be a mistake for Helsinki to join the 30-strong transatlantic alliance and that …