Sharjah 24 – AFP: The Finnish government officially announced its intention to join NATO on Sunday, as Sweden's ruling party was to hold a decisive meeting that could pave the way for a joint application.
Less than three months after Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine on February 24, the move is a stunning reversal of Finland's policy on military non-alignment dating back more than 75 years.
Sweden, which has been militarily non-aligned for more than two centuries, is expected to follow suit with a similar announcement, possibly on Monday.
"Today, the President of the Republic and the Government's Foreign Policy Committee have jointly agreed that Finland will apply for NATO membership, after consulting parliament," Finnish President Sauli Niinisto told reporters at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Sunday.
"This is a historic day. A new era is opening", Niinisto said.
Despite last-minute objections by Turkey, NATO members are on "good track" in their discussions on welcoming Sweden and Finland into the Western military alliance, Croatia's foreign minister, Gordan Grlic Radman, said as he arrived for talks with NATO counterparts in Berlin.
Finland's parliament will convene to debate the membership proposal on Monday.
The two Nordic countries broke their strict neutralities after the end of the Cold War by joining the EU and becoming partners to NATO in the 1990s, solidifying their affiliation with the West.
But the concept of full NATO membership was a non-starter in the countries until the war in Ukraine saw public and political support for joining the alliance soar.
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