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The Finnish sky.

Finland and Sweden joining Nato 

“could make entire northern Europe much more stable and safer,”

 said some of Estonia’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee.

Is not so.

But.

According to Financial Times Russia’s sabre-rattling in Ukraine has reignited the debate in Finland as to whether the Nordic country should join Nato, defying demands from Moscow that seek to limit expansion of the military alliance in Europe.

Both president Sauli Niinisto and prime minister Sanna Marin used their new year addresses to underscore that Finland retained the option of seeking Nato membership at any time.

“Let it be stated once again: Finland’s room to manoeuvre and freedom of choice also include the possibility of military alignment and of applying for Nato membership, should we ourselves so decide,” Niinisto said.

Marin added in her separate speech that every country had the right to decide its own security policy, stressing: 

“We have shown that we have learnt from the past. We will not let go of our room for manoeuvre.”

As Russia amasses about 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s eastern frontier, Washington, Moscow and Nato member states are set to meet for talks in early January. US president Joe Biden is also due to speak to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has previously refused to rule out military action and has warned he has “all kinds” of options if his demands for “security guarantees” to limit Nato expansion are unmet.

Finland and neighbouring Sweden are both militarily non-aligned but have a growing co-operation with Nato as well as strong bilateral relationships with members of the alliance such as the US, Norway and UK.

There is no sense of Finland imminently about to apply for Nato membership, but Russia’s activity on the borders of Ukraine and its list of demands just before Christmas has fired up the internal debate in Helsinki to a level last seen after the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Niinisto also warned the west that it risked empowering Russia if it removed the threat of possible military action. Citing former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger on appeasing Nazi-Germany, the Finnish president said: 

“Whenever avoidance of war has been the primary objective of a group of powers, the international system has been at the mercy of its most ruthless member.”

Atte Harjanne, an active reservist and head of the parliamentary group of the Green party, a member of the ruling five-party government coalition, said the arguments for Finland joining had been strengthened and that the country should join immediately.

In Finland, the matter is decided by the people of Finland, in practice the president, who is absolutely hugely popular.

Niinistö can with his own opinion to direct the people - no one else can do that.