Elected Finland’s president in 2012, 74-year-old Sauli Niinistö, who is finishing his second term, oversaw his country’s NATO membership. Launched in the spring of 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, the process was completed on April 4. On July 13, Niinistö will host US President Joe Biden in Helsinki for a summit with the Nordic countries.
What does NATO membership mean for your country?
This is a great moment for my country and for me, who represents it. The Finns feel considerable relief. They feel much safer. Due to Section 5 [du traité de l’Atlantique Nord, qui prévoit qu’une attaque armée contre un pays signataire est considérée comme une attaque dirigée contre tous les Etats membres], Of course. But, in my opinion, the biggest benefit is above all the deterrent aspect of NATO. From a security point of view, this is important, even if it does not change everything.
What role does Finland intend to play within the Alliance?
We understand our obligations and responsibilities. We are discussing, at the moment, to see what our contribution to the NATO structure will be, what we can contribute in terms of troops and how we can contribute if necessary. Like all member states, we are of course also ready to guarantee the safety of others.
A year and a half ago, however, this membership was not relevant…
We’ve been talking about it for decades. But public support was weak. Not that the Finns were against it. However, many thought like me that we were safe. I have always been a bit critical of most European countries, which completely neglected their defense and lived in a world where peace seemed obvious for the future. This has never been the case with Finland. We maintained conscription, when most of our neighbors abandoned it, and continued to develop all our capacities. If we call up our reserves, we have a larger army than Germany’s, although we are seventeen times smaller. Even though we were not members of NATO, we never stopped taking care of our defence, which from my point of view was much more important. Most Finns then thought that in addition to our membership of the European Union and our relations with Russia, that was enough to ensure our security.
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