NATO | Consensus forming in Parliament: The NATO law will be finalized already this election period

With parliamentary groups seems to be ready to bring the NATO legislation to the finish line already in this election period.

Speaker Matti Vanhanen (Centre) has invited the parties and the leadership of the Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss the issue. The meeting started on Friday morning in the parliament.

The groups of the Coalition, Sdp, the center and the greens communicate their positions already on Thursdayaccording to which the matter could be proceeded with.

Left Alliance has spoken in the past that it would wait for the missing ratifications from Turkey and Hungary.

From the chairman of the group From Jussi Saramo was asked before this morning’s meeting whether the Left Alliance is ready to change its position if all other groups have a different opinion.

“Of course, we will go with the majority in this matter as well,” he told reporters.

“We won’t become a member of NATO until Orban and Erdogan have accepted it. The fact that the schedule would be kept in the hands of the parliament would be reasonable in our opinion. This is where input is given [Erdoganin] shoulder, but if that’s what you want to do, that’s how you do it.”

In Saramo’s opinion, after the parliament’s decision, the matter would no longer be “in Finland’s hands”.

“We don’t have a body that could question the parliament’s decision and not take the papers to Washington. It is no longer possible to make political choices.”

Also chairman of Rkp’s parliamentary group Anders Adlercreutz said that the position of the majority of the parliamentary groups goes for the party.

“We think it is quite possible to do so. The actual joining of NATO is largely in NATO’s hands,” he said.

Do you mean that NATO could delay Finland’s ratification even in a situation where Turkey and Hungary would have ratified the membership?

“Nato is inviting us to record [liittymisasiakirjan]and that’s NATO, I understand Stoltenberg decision when it is made. In that way, NATO is always there.”

Also the chairman of the foreign affairs committee Jussi Halla-aho (ps) told STT that the committee is moving towards a consensus. According to him, a few weeks ago the parliamentary group of basic Finns gave the committee group a mandate to seek consensus and agree to it.