HELSINKI, (Reuters) – Finland should seriously consider joining NATO because of Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine and could hold a referendum on the issue some time after its 2015 election, its defence minister told Reuters.
Opinion polls show only one fifth of Finns favour joining the Atlantic alliance but Carl Haglund said he expected that to change if Finland, which shares a 1,300 kilometre border with Russia, had an honest and open debate about NATO membership. “I think the grounds for NATO membership are stronger than ever,” Haglund said in an interview scheduled for publication on Wednesday.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise to Russia that this kind of debate is going on in their neighbourhood. They have caused it themselves,” he said, citing Moscow’s brief 2008 war against Georgia as well as its actions in Ukraine.
