Finland officially declares its interest to accede to NATO

Helsinki, 17 May 2022

On Tuesday 17 May 2022, the President of the Republic of Finland decided, on the proposal of the Government, to notify the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of Finland’s interest to engage in talks on accession to NATO and appointed a delegation to Finland’s accession talks to be held with NATO and its member countries.

Finland’s declaration of its interest to accede to NATO and engage in accession talks will be in the form of a letter signed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs delivered to the NATO Secretary General. After receiving the letter, NATO will process the matter and decide on inviting Finland to accession talks.

Accession talks will cover political, legal, resource, information security, and defence and military issues.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will lead Finland’s delegation, which was appointed by the President of the Republic, and Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen will serve as Alternate Head of Delegation. The delegation includes members from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Command of the Finnish Defence Forces and the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has also appointed the advisors of the delegation.

Source: Finland declares its interest to accede to NATO

How Finland is preparing to apply for NATO membership

Finland is preparing to apply for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On 15 May, the Government submitted a report to Parliament on Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and proposed that the President of the Republic decide that Finland will apply for membership in NATO after Parliament has been heard.