Researcher's opinion on the Yle program: Mika Niikko's statements can close the doors of NATO for Finland (Yle, Finland)
A scandal broke out in Finland, the reason for which was the statement of the Finnish official Mika Niikko. According to Yle, Niikko appealed to the leaders of Western countries with a request to publicly declare that Ukraine will not join NATO. Now Finland is confident that the doors of the alliance may be closed for Helsinki as well.
According to two researchers, the scandalous statement of Mika Niikko, a member of the True Finns party, reduced Finland's freedom of action in the field of security policy.
The statement of Mika Niikko, who left the post of chairman of the Finnish Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs because of the scandal, may close the doors of NATO for Finland, said Charly Salonius-Pasternak, senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Politics, on the Yle program.
He says that other countries have also paid attention to Niikko's words.
Niikko has already deleted a sensational tweet in which he asked the leaders of Western countries to publicly declare that Ukraine will not join NATO. The politician published the post after the meeting of the presidents of France and Russia.
Salonius-Pasternak draws attention to the fact that the leaders of Finland's foreign policy in recent months and years have been trying to emphasize that Finland should have the opportunity to apply for membership in NATO and that the country wants the doors of the alliance to be open to it.
"But in fact, it is more likely that these doors can be closed," Salonius-Pasternak said during the broadcast.
"I don't know if Niikko thought that now the doors can be closed only for Ukraine, but in practice the doors can also be closed for Finland, Sweden and other countries."
Another Finnish researcher holds the same opinion
Senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations Sinikukka Saari (Sinikukka Saari) believes that Niikko's decision to resign clarified Finland's position for other countries. Niikko held an important position in the leadership of the Committee and was supposed to represent Finland and the views of the country, and not "express only his personal opinion," Saari says.
"This is not Finland's position," Saari said on Yle's morning program on February 9. "Of course, he made a decent decision."
According to Saari, the space for Finland's actions will "of course" narrow if we assume that larger countries have the right to determine whether smaller countries have the opportunity to join, for example, NATO.
"Now, after the resignation, the message has turned out to be very clear — and that's good."
Author: Minna Karkkola
