According to Aaltola, Finland’s NATO membership has become an A option.
Finland could receive various narrower or wider security guarantees from key western NATO countries already at the application stage, says the director of the Foreign Policy Institute (Upi) Mika Aaltola. In practice, this would tackle any problems that may arise from Russia before the application is approved.
One of the most important issues is the period after the application for membership, when Finland would not yet be covered by NATO security guarantees.
– So it would be a bridge solution, Aaltola said.
Aaltola remotely spoke at a foreign and security policy seminar held in connection with a meeting of the Center Party Party Council.
He stated that NATO, which was Finland’s B option, has now become an A option. As an alternative, Finland could move closer to the United States and Britain through the Nordic model.
– Why about that [Natosta] has become an A option, is that it is an existing structure. That vision is much easier to perceive as an end point than a Nordic structure like this, Aaltola said.
The U.S. defense structure in Europe is based on NATO, Aaltola said. However, he added, however, that “mini-lateral” models such as Option B have become more common.
This has happened, for example, in connection with various military equipment deals.
Security fabric to the west
Aaltola also wondered whether the war in Ukraine could have been avoided. According to him, it would not have been in accordance with the “spirit of Helsinki”, ie Russia would have already been given some kind of interest.
According to Aaltola, the balance of power in Europe is now being challenged and the situation has been going on for a long time. Over the centuries, it has been proven that such situations have resulted in wars or series of wars, he says.
According to Aaltola, this is a European security order.
– The fight that’s over there [Ukrainassa] is a struggle for a free Europe, its status quo, Aaltola said.
The status quo means the state of affairs.
According to Aaltola, it is now important to look ahead and create a security fabric to the west.