Report says NATO membership would stabilise Finnish relations with alliance

Ambassador Sierla says current arrangement subject to fluctuations

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A report drawn up at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on the implications of possible Finnish membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation says that joining the alliance would secure Finland's ties with NATO.
      The assessment, written up by Ambassador Antti Sierla, warns that Finland's current partnership arrangement with NATO is on a temporary foundation, and more susceptible to political fluctuations than full membership would be.
      As for Finland's relations with Russia, NATO membership is seen to offer both challenges and opportunities. The report finds that in relations with the United States, joining the alliance would open the possibility for closer cooperation than before.
     
No new assessments were made on how joining NATO would affect Finland's relations with Russia, nor was there speculation on possible reactions of other countries to such a move.
      Previous assessments suggest that joining NATO would have a negative effect on ties with Russia, but that the impact would be short-lived.
      The Foreign Ministry emphasised in an advance press release that 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 report is seen to be similar in its assessments to the one put out by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). However, Sierla's report focuses more on describing NATO and its activities.
      There is also a greater emphasis on changes in both NATO and Finland, and in the world in general.
      According to one assessment, the Sierla report differs from the FIIA paper in that it appears to have been written more for experts in the field than for the public at large.
      The report was first presented at a meeting of the government's foreign and defence policy committee, which is chaired by the President, on Friday morning. After that the text was made available to the public.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Majority of Finns still oppose NATO membership (20.12.2007)
  FIIA: no wartime help for Finland without NATO (12.12.2007)
  Foreign Ministry preparing NATO report (5.12.2007)
  On the road to NATO: a guide for travellers (18.11.2007)

Links:
  Foreign Ministry press release 21.12.2007: Impact of Finland’s possible NATO membership – new Ministry for Foreign Affairs report published

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