Finland to seek Nato entry in historic policy shift

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto confirmed on Sunday that his country would apply for membership of the Nato military alliance, in a historic policy shift prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In response to the development, Russia, which shares a 1,300km border with Finland, has said it would be a mistake for Helsinki to join the 30-strong transatlantic alliance and that it would harm bilateral ties, reports Reuters.

Nato welcomed Finland's decision to seek entry into the defence alliance in a historic move that ends the Nordic nation's long-held stance of military non-alignment.

Bloomberg reports that Finland's formal decision, announced on Sunday will require sign-off by the parliament, which is expected within days.  It is pulling neighbouring Sweden along, with a decision by the ruling party in that country slated for later on Sunday in Stockholm

Foreign ministers of Nato member countries concluded a two-day meeting in Berlin with welcoming words for the Nordic nations and pledged to process applications rapidly, with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock saying the two are already de-facto "Nato members, just without membership cards."

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the bloc, said their entry "would be a historic moment" and "increase our shared security and demonstrate that our doors remain open and that aggression doesn't pay," according to comments made at a news conference on Sunday. 

"Today, we, the president and the government's foreign policy committee, have together decided that Finland ... will apply for Nato membership," Niinisto told reporters in the presidential palace in Helsinki.

Niinisto called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to tell him of Finland's plans to join the alliance. Putin said such a move would hurt Russian-Finnish relations.

Turkey's reservations

The Finnish president expressed readiness to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan after Ankara raised objections to the Nordic countries joining Nato.

As a Nato member, Turkey could veto their applications.

Niinisto said he was prepared to have a new discussion with President Erdogan about the problems he has raised.

Turkey's foreign minister on Sunday said that Sweden and Finland must stop supporting terrorist groups in their countries, provide clear security guarantees and lift export bans on Turkey as they seek membership in Nato.

"There absolutely needs to be security guarantees here. They need to stop supporting terrorist organizations," Cavusoglu told Turkish reporters in Berlin. He added that Swedish and Finnish bans on exporting of some of their defence sector goods to Turkey must end.

Earlier on Friday Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan surprised Nato allies and the Nordic countries saying Turkey could not support the enlargement plans given they were "home to many terrorist organisations", but his spokesperson told Reuters on Saturday that Turkey had not shut the door. 

Reiterating the stance Cavusoglu said on Sunday that Turkey, which joined Nato 70 years ago, does not oppose its open door policy.

Sweden's ruling party poised to back Nato bid

Meanwhile Sweden's ruling Social Democrats were poised on Sunday to come out in favour of the country joining Nato, paving the way for an application soon after and abandoning decades of military non-alignment in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson's Social Democrats, the biggest party in every election for the past century, has held internal debates over the past week about dropping a long-standing opposition to Nato membership.

With the party leadership set to decide on Sunday, and widely expected to drop its opposition, support for joining the alliance would command a broad majority in Sweden's Riksdag with much of the opposition already in favour.

Nato official 'confident' about finding Finland, Sweden consensus

Nato is confident that it can overcome objections by Turkey and quickly admit Finland and Sweden, its deputy chief said on Sunday

As talks resumed on Sunday, Nato's Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoana said he was confident Ankara's concerns could be addressed.

"Turkey is an important ally and expressed concerns that are addressed between friends and allies," Geoana told reporters.

"I am confident if these countries decide to seek membership in Nato we will be able to welcome them, to find all conditions for consensus to be met," he added.

Neutral Switzerland leans closer to Nato

Switzerland's fabled neutral status is about to face its biggest test in decades, with the defence ministry tilting closer to Western military powers in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, read a Reuters analysis published on Sunday.

The defence ministry is drawing up a report on security options that include joint military exercises with Nato countries and "backfilling" munitions, Paelvi Pulli, head of security policy at the Swiss defence ministry told Reuters.

The details of the policy options under discussion in the government have not been previously reported.

"Ultimately, there could be changes in the way neutrality is interpreted," Pulli said in an interview last week. On a trip to Washington this week, Defence Minister Viola Amherd said Switzerland should work more closely with the US-led military alliance, but not join it, Swiss media reported.

Neutrality, which kept Switzerland out of both world wars during the 20th century, was not an objective in itself, but was intended to increase Swiss security, Pulli said.

Other options include high-level and regular meetings between Swiss and Nato commanders and politicians, she said.

The idea of full membership of Nato has been discussed, but whereas Sweden and Finland - countries that also have a history of neutrality - are on the verge of joining, Pulli said the report was unlikely to recommend Switzerland take that step.

The report is due to be completed by the end of September when it will go to the Swiss cabinet for consideration.

It will be submitted to parliament for discussion and serve as a basis for possible decisions on the future direction of Swiss security policy. The report itself will not be submitted to a vote.