Impact of Finland’s possible NATO membership – new Ministry for Foreign Affairs report published
Press release 290/2007
21 December 2007
What are NATO’s tasks and principles for its activities? What kind of impact could NATO membership have on Finland's international status and military activities? What then would be the amount of costs caused by Finnish membership? Could Finland influence NATO decision-making? Would NATO command Finnish soldiers to participate in an operation against Finland’s will? What does NATO expect from its member candidates? What kind of phases does the accession process to NATO include? For instance, these are among the questions answered in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs report "Impact of Finland’s possible NATO membership", drawn up under the direction of Ambassador Antti Sierla. The purpose of the report is to offer both factual information and perspectives to the debate about Finland’s relationship with NATO.
The report goes through the functions, activities and development of NATO, starting from the North Atlantic Treaty that established NATO in 1949. The report also examines the NATO organisation, decision-making structure and possible directions in which its activities could develop. In addition, the study sheds light on NATO cooperation and its relations with the EU, the United States and Russia.
Furthermore, the report assesses the impact of possible NATO membership on Finland’s international activities. The scope of study covers Finland’s involvement in the EU as well as Finland’s Transatlantic relations and relations with the neighbouring countries. Attention is also paid on how the membership would impact the image of Finland.
The assessments made in the report about the impact of possible NATO membership on Finland’s Defence Forces have been drawn up in close collaboration with the Ministry of Defence. In this part of the study, the report examines how the membership would affect defence of Finland’s own territory, defence planning, security of supply and defence materiel cooperation. The relationship between the Finnish conscription system and possible NATO membership is also analysed. Comparisons are made between what it would be like to participate in NATO-led crisis management as a member state as compared to the current situation.
As far as key principles of NATO enlargement are concerned, the study examines the new challenges of the Atlantic Alliance, the military and defence-related influences of the enlargement process as well as, for instance, the budgetary implications of NATO membership. Finally, the report describes the phases and schedules of NATO accession process and goes through legal effects of Finland’s possible NATO membership.
The report does not present assessments of the security environment or threat scenarios of NATO or Finland, and it does not include any recommendations. The review is based on the Government Programme of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen’s second Cabinet, stipulating that the impacts of both Finland’s continued military non-alignment and possible military alliance will be studied in connection with the preparation of the new White Paper on the security and defence policy. As part of the preparation process, Ambassadot Antti Sierla from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs prepared this report on impact of Finland’s possible NATO membership.
Effects of Finland's possible Nato membership (Opens New Window) (PDF)
MFA, 21 December 2007
Additional information: Ambassador Antti Sierla, tel. +358 40 575 9297, and Press Attaché to the Foreign Minister Juha Kirstilä, tel. +358 40 552 8200