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New polls suggest more support for Finland joining Nato

A Helsingin Sanomat poll showed 54 percent support for Nato membership while three-quarters of Chambers of Commerce members said yes to joining the military alliance.

Yle News
23.3. 07:08
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Updated 23.3. 07:48

Helsingin Sanomat's (HS) most recent (siirryt toiseen palveluun) poll about Finland's possible Nato membership suggests that a slight majority of people in the country are in favour of joining the military alliance, with about 54 percent of respondents saying they would back such a move.

The proportion of a similar poll the paper carried out in early March (siirryt toiseen palveluun) was 48 percent in favour of joining.

About one-in-five of the poll's 1,062 respondents said they were against joining while one in four said they were unable to express an opinion on the matter.

The paper's poll further showed that men were more likely to support the move with 64 percent being in favour of membership compared to 45 percent of women.

Age group-wise, it was those aged between 60 and 69 that were most eager for Finland to join the military alliance. In contrast, just under half of respondents aged between 31 and 39 supported membership.
Three in four business managers say yes to membership

Nearly 75 percent of businesses belonging to Finland's Chamber of Commerce answered the burning membership question with a "yes."

Meanwhile out of the nearly 2,000 member companies just seven percent were against Nato membership and nearly 20 percent opted for 'cannot say.'

Swedish Top Politicians at Cold Response: Important Signal about Defense Cooperation

On 14 March, the Norwegian-led military exercise Cold Response 2022 started. It goes on in Norway, with main emphasis in the North, and takes place every other year, having participation from allied and partner countries.

This year, some 30,000 soldiers from a total of 27 countries are participating. These are NATO countries along with Sweden and Finland. This is the largest Norwegian-led exercise in Norway since the Cold War.

The exercise is to last until 1 April, according to the Joint Operations Headquarters, and has in recent days taken place in Nordland and Troms counties. The program also includes a series of visits from political and military leaders from the participating countries, such as the Swedish top politicians, as well as NATO leaders.

The Swedish forces’ brigade headquarters near Bjerkvik just outside Narvik were the destination of Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson (Social democrats) and opposition leader Ulf Kristersson (Moderates). The Swedish forces are localized together with Finnish forces in Skoglund Camp.

“This visit was very important. This exercise has been planned for a long time. It is important that we, based on the current security situation, send an important signal about there being interaction, cooperation and preparedness to defend our territories, the PM said at a joint press conference, according to Swedish daily Aftonbladet.

Sweden has some 1,600 soldiers involved, both land forces and fighter plane forces, according to the Swedish Armed Forces. These come a.o from the North Bothnia regiment, the country’s northernmost county. The Finnish battle group of 680 soldiers operates as a part of a Swedish brigade, according to the Finnish Armed Forces.
The NATO question

The PM and opposition leader’s joint visit to the military exercise took place at the behest of the former. Such an invitation across political borders was well received by the Moderates’ leader.

“When there is a war in Europe, we do all we can to cooperate”, Kristersson said during the visit, according to Aftonbladet.

Last Friday, he stated that if the Moderate Party wins the upcoming fall elections, Sweden will apply for NATO membership. Kristersson argues that he would prefer for the Swedish application to be submitted as early as this spring, along with a Finnish application, referring to both Swedish and Finnish debate about the NATO issue in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Center Party, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats are also positive to Swedish membership in the Alliance. The Swedish Democrats do not rule out quick support of this line if the security situation so requires, according to Swedish radio.