Finland will decide whether to apply for NATO membership in the next few weeks as it has to be “prepared for all kinds of actions from Russia”, the country’s prime minister has said.
Sanna Marin also said her nation will only have “security guarantees” from NATO if it moves from being a partner to a member of the US-led alliance.
Sweden is also on the verge of applying for NATO membership, with Ms Marin saying it would be a good thing if both countries made similar security choices in future.
The Finnish prime minister’s comments come days after a senior US State Department official said the prospect of Finland and Sweden joining NATO was being discussed by foreign ministers from the military alliance in Brussels.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed NATO “remains a tool geared towards confrontation and its further expansion will not bring stability to the European continent”.
Mr Peskov had told Sky News days earlier that Russia would have to make its “Western flank more sophisticated in terms of ensuring our security” if the two Nordic nations were to join NATO.
Finland and Sweden are close partners with the 30-member alliance but have shied away from becoming members.
In a joint news conference with her Swedish counterpart Magdalena Andersson in Stockholm on Wednesday, Ms Marin said things had changed after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February.
However, she said the option to apply for NATO membership had to be carefully analysed.
“We have to be prepared for all kinds of actions from Russia,” Ms Marin said.
“The difference between being a partner and being a member is very clear and will remain so. There is no other way to have security guarantees than under NATO’s deterrence and common defence as guaranteed by NATO’s Article 5,” she added.
“I won’t give any kind of timetable when we will make our decisions, but I think it will happen quite fast – within weeks not within months,” Ms Marin continued.
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The Finnish prime minister also said it was important to reach consensus in her country which shares a 1,300km (810-mile) long border with Russia to the East.
She said political parties would have internal talks and in parliament in the coming weeks.
Public opinion in Finland has taken a U-turn on NATO, with the most recent poll by private broadcaster MTV showing 68% of respondents in favour of joining, with only 12% against.
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“Yeah, I used to be against joining NATO. But, today, I think it’s a reasonable choice,” said Ville Pohjonen, chief creative officer for a media firm in the Finnish capital Helsinki.
Antti Laulaja, a student, said: “Yes, definitely, I think Russia has shown its true face, so I think we should join NATO.”
A Finnish government white paper update of its foreign and security policy, published on Wednesday, said Russia’s invasion had profoundly changed the security situation, but made no recommendation regarding joining NATO.
Finland and Sweden already both take part in NATO exercises and crisis management initiatives as well as exchange intelligence with the alliance.
Sweden’s prime minister has said there were pros and cons of being a member of NATO though the main advantage was the security of Article 5, under which the alliance regards an attack on one member as an attack on all.
