DISINFO: Most Finns are against NATO membership; neutrality is key to security
SUMMARY
Statements about Finland’s membership of NATO are against the will of people because most Finns oppose it. People cannot express their opinion because authorities are not staging a referendum. Helsinki has been implementing a successful policy of neutrality since WWII. Finland has gone through various times, but neutrality and good-neighbourly relations with Russia are a guarantee of its security.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets about Finland and Sweden’s future membership of NATO in the context of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
In reality, a poll carried out by research firm Taloustutkimus has shown that the number of supporters of NATO membership in Finland grew from 53 per cent in February 2022 to 62 per cent in March 2022 and 76 per cent in May 2022. Taloustutkimus carried out the survey via an internet panel from 4 to 6 May 2022 with a margin of error plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. 1270 respondents represented the voting-age population in Finland. Before the Russian war of invasion against Ukraine, a majority of Finns had long opposed membership.
Finland does not feel secure as Russia stages provocations along the border. Earlier in May, the Finnish Ministry of Defence said that a Russian Mi-17 helicopter had reportedly violated Finnish airspace. In April, Finnish authorities accused a Russian IL-96-300 of violating the country’s airspace in the Gulf of Finland. Another violation of Finland's airspace by a Russian aircraft occurred in July 2020.
Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in May that the country should apply to join NATO “without delay.”
In both Finland and Sweden there is overwhelmingly broad-based support across the political landscape which has also been manifested in the process in the parliaments: in Finland with 188 deputies voting for and only 8 against NATO membership application. In Sweden, among it's eight parties in parliament, only two smaller left-leaning parties oppose the application for membership.
Read more disinformation cases about Finland and Sweden’s future membership of NATO and claims that NATO is posing a threat to Russia.