Finnish Minister Says NATO No Curb To Sovereignty
05 Nov 01
Reuters
Finnish Defence Minister Jan-Erik Enestam said on Monday that
joining NATO would not mean surrendering independence over national
defence.
Finland, the only European Union member bordering on Russia,
remains militarily non-aligned but wants the door to NATO to stay open
even though most Finns are opposed to joining.
"One general misperception about NATO is the claim that NATO
membership would mean relinquishing national decision-making on
security and defence policy," Enestam told a defence policy seminar,
according to a copy of his speech.
"It is worthwhile remembering that NATO is in terms of its modes of
operation a traditional international organisation in which decisions
are made by consensus and whose members retain their sovereignty,"
Enestam said. Enestam's remarks were the latest addition to a
gradually simmering debate over the possibility of Finland joining
NATO which has gained momentum as the likelihood has increased that
the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, will join.
Opinion polls show the vast majority of Finns think the country
should remain non-aligned, and opposition to joining NATO has grown
even stronger since the September 11 attacks on the United States
triggered U.S.-led strikes in Afghanistan.
Following the attacks, NATO invoked Article V of its founding
treaty, which says that an attack on one ally should be treated as an
attack on all. Enestam said NATO members were allowed to participate
in fighting terrorism according to their own capabilities and as they
saw fit.
"There are many different means of participating, which each
country can decide for itself -- the important thing is that all the
member countries form a politically unified front," Enestam said.
The idea of joining NATO has long been a taboo in Finland, which
during the Cold War clung to neutrality in a precarious balancing act
between the East and West blocs.
But recently some leading politicians, including Prime Minister
Paavo Lipponen, have said the country needs an open debate on the
subject and could reconsider the possibility in conjunction with a
government defence policy report in 2004.
In the past, fear of antagonising Moscow also kept Finland
neutral. But Enestam said Russia's attitude towards NATO had changed
under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin.
"Russia now approaches NATO from a new basis, taking into account
prevailing realities: ever closer cooperation in security policy
within the Euro-Atlantic community is also in Russia's interests,"
Enestam said.
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