The former Deputy Secretary General of NATO has suggested that the 28 NATO countries could give Finland and Sweden security guarantees even before membership is accepted in all countries.
Defense Committee chairman Antti Häkkänen (kok) does not consider it very realistic the idea that 28 NATO countries would give Finland and Sweden security guarantees even before the ratifications of Turkey and Hungary.
“I don’t know how seriously this has been considered in different places. ButAfter all, Finland already has quite strong security guarantees from different directions. In that sense, I don’t see a momentary day of trouble here,” says Häkkänen.
Served as Deputy Secretary General of NATO and Head of the Strategic Foresight Department Stefanie Babst floated the idea last week Western Media in the interview. He hoped that the countries that have already ratified the membership could jointly agree that the security guarantees according to the fifth article would apply to Finland and Sweden, even though the membership process is in progress.
Read more: LM: The former Deputy Secretary General of NATO suggests that the membership process for Finland and Sweden be shortened
The foreign minister also commented on Babst’s proposal Pekka Haavisto (green) In Yle’s A-studio on Tuesday. He was wary of the idea.
“Of course, you can think about everything, but I don’t think that in this situation it will help. Now it would be important to get that pressure on Turkey in that Turkey and Hungary come to this ratification,” Haavisto said.
Haavisto said that he does not believe that the issue will come up seriously before the NATO summit next summer.
Also Häkkänen considers it a priority that acceptance into NATO is completed through the normal procedure.
“Patience is probably one of the most important virtues now,” he says.
Häkkänen points out that, for example, Britain has promised to protect Finland before accepting membership. In addition, according to him, Finland and the NATO countries have “actually already formed a common solidary defense understanding.”
Häkkänen estimates that there would be a large threshold for NATO countries to override the veto rights of some countries in practice. Häkkänen compares the situation to the EU, where, according to him, some kind of differentiation can be observed between the euro countries and other countries.
“If such a two-track model came about, it could have quite long-term consequences for NATO’s ability to operate.”
Häkkänen notes that NATO’s history has seen long negotiation processes with different countries. Because of this, he is confident that Finland’s process will also be resolved well and believes that other NATO countries also think this way.
“Yes, the frustration with the actions of Turkey and Hungary is wide-ranging, but the memory of the history of the long-term NATO countries is strong in the sense that this matter will be resolved,” says Häkkänen.
“Of course, new member country applicants may suddenly get nervous, but I would still take it easy. Yes, this matter will be resolved.”
When asked in the A-studio, Foreign Minister Haavisto also stated that there is wider frustration in NATO with the delay in the membership of Finland and Sweden.
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