Finland Dampens NATO Membership Expectations Amid Ukraine/Russia Tensions

Finland's foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, has sought to dampen expectations of Finland's potential accession to NATO membership in an interview with YLE. Haavisto stated that Finland joining NATO would only become a possibility if the security situation in Europe changed dramatically, that the Finnish gov't believed its own defence resources were not enough, and if the gov't believed it was not recieving sufficient external assistance.

• Previous statements from President Sauli Niinisto and PM Sanna Marin had seemed to indicate that Finland could join NATO in the event that Russian troops made military incursions into Ukrainian territory.
• Finland joining NATO would present a major security risk to Russia. It would mean its north-western border with Europe could end up being home to NATO forces or missiles, under 400km from Russia's second-largest city of St. Petersburg.