President makes distinction between NATO membership and cooperation

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President Tarja Halonen said on Monday that Finland should not seek to join NATO, or ponder the need for a referendum on the matter. Delivering the Martti Ahtisaari lecture at the University of Jyväskylä, President Halonen praised the present cooperation between Finland and NATO.
      "I consider it important that we make a clear distinction between our current cooperation and membership, or even a relationship resembling membership", the President said.
      Halonen said that she feels that it is enough for Finland to take part in NATO-led peacekeeping operations and the Partnership for Peace programme.
      "Our participation in NATO-led crisis management operations, in manoeuvres, or in Partnership for Peace programmes does not mean that Finland is being gradually taken into NATO."
     
Answering audience questions, Halonen encouraged Finnish citizens and politicians to discuss NATO, particularly in advance of the upcoming Parliamentary elections.
      In her view, there is reason to make note of previous decisions by political parties, and to require that candidates act responsibly on the basis of those decisions.
      The President emphasised that NATO itself requires that joining the alliance should have the approval of public opinion in the new member countries - something which does not appear to exist in Finland on the basis of opinion polls.
     
The most important part of Finland’s foreign and security policy, in the President’s view, is membership and activity in the European Union. Other aspects include relations with neighbours in nearby areas, promotion of reform at the United Nations, carrying global responsibility, and working with the EU to improve ties with the United States.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Poll: Finns taking increasingly negative view of NATO membership (13.11.2006)

Links:
  Ahtisaari Lecture by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at the University of Jyväskylä, 13 November 2006

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