The Finnish president and prime minister urged the country to apply for NATO membership “immediately”.
Sauli Niinisto and Sanna Marin made a joint statement, saying that they expect a decision on this issue in the next few days.
Finland’s evaluation of NATO membership option came to the fore after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finland shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia. So far, it has stayed out of NATO to avoid the reaction of its eastern neighbor.
Finland will officially announce its decision on NATO on Sunday, after consideration by parliament and other top political figures.
Sweden said it would announce a similar decision on the same day.
These two Scandinavian countries have kept their neutrality until now.
Russia has warned the two countries not to abandon its long-standing policy of military non-alignment and has threatened to take some countermeasures otherwise.
Both countries fulfill the criterion of being democratic, which is one of the criteria for NATO membership. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that they would welcome both countries with open arms.