Anna Kontula opposes NATO membership: "It is obvious that after Ukraine, Russia will not attack anyone in the near future"
Finland will soon need to make a decision on joining NATO, writes Helsingin Sanomat. According to the publication, the majority of deputies of the Finnish parliament support membership in the alliance. But not Anna Kontula. In an interview with the newspaper, the parliamentarian explains why he opposes.
Emil Elo (Emil Elo)
Finland is thinking about joining NATO. According to the information collected by Helsingin Sanomat, the majority of Finnish MPs support NATO membership and consider filing an application a fairly likely step.
Deputy Anna Kontula (Anna Kontula, "Left Union") opposes Finland's accession to NATO, as she stated on Easter Sunday.
Kontula justifies his views by saying that membership in NATO is unlikely to strengthen Finland's security: after joining the alliance, the number of countries negatively related to Finland may, on the contrary, increase. This, among other things, may increase the threat of terrorism.
In addition, NATO includes countries that have a value system different from the Finnish one — or at least different from the Kontula value system. These are, for example, the USA, Turkey and Hungary.
Kontula also talks about the importance of careful decision-making, taking into account that in the future there will be serious changes in the international economy, the structure of the population and the balance of power.
She has a very clear position on NATO.
"Now, having analyzed what is happening, I will not change my views. We'll see later if I'm right or not."
Kontula analyzed the information received from various specialists, including other deputies. And yet she came to a position different from the majority opinion.
- why?
— Politics is about the future. When it comes to complex issues, there is a significant degree of uncertainty. In fact, no one can say which decision will be wise for Finland.
"We will be able to judge this only after many years," she says.
She says that, for example, climate change is confirmed by scientific facts that can be taken into account or not taken into account in politics. In matters related to NATO, facts and scenarios are of less importance, since events can begin to develop in any direction.
It is difficult to judge the future of Kontul's Russia. Finland's neighboring state is in a state that can lead to both the development of democracy and the growth of authoritarianism or complete chaos.
"There is no approximate scenario of Russia's development that could be used to build its position," she says.
— There is only the unknown ahead. Don't we have to prepare for anything?
— It would be worth it if the only variable would be the probability of a military invasion by Russia. However, there are many other factors on the table, varying in severity.
According to Kontul, Russian President Vladimir Putin has gained too much weight in the disputes about NATO.
"Putin is a 70—year-old man, and there are biological reasons that give us the right to assume that he is unlikely to influence Finland's foreign policy and security policy for a long time."
Therefore, according to Kontul, it is not worth bringing Putin into arguments — it is better to make scenarios based on the actions of the whole of Russia.
"It is obvious that after Ukraine, Russia will not attack anyone in the near future."
— Is that for sure?
— I have not yet met any specialist who would be sure that we have an acute threat of invasion.
Kontula is one of those politicians who base their arguments about NATO not only on how quickly Finland needs to join the alliance. Such a position is welcome, but it is unpleasant for Kontula.
However, as a deputy, she still has to participate in such discussions.
"I don't really want to talk about it, I would rather discuss the problem of strikes. The discussion about NATO does not inspire me at all, but now, unfortunately, there is no choice."
Talking about NATO, according to Kontul, is difficult, even impossible. It's not about democracy, it's about the topic.
"Most of the information is not really studied. Some things cannot be mentioned in the reports, because this is classified information," she says.
"How can democracy act in a situation when the issue cannot be thoroughly studied, despite all the desire?"
Kontula made public her position on NATO after the majority of Finnish MPs had already expressed support for the idea of joining NATO. Someone might say that it's easy to stick to a different position now.
"Of course. The scenario I support is unlikely to be implemented. Apparently, I won't have to answer for my words. However, you will not have to answer for my previous statements either."
Kontula recalls that she warned the company "Fennovoima" about dependence on Russia many years ago. Then she was told that she simply did not understand the current policy.
"Now the same critics believe that under the current circumstances, the nuclear power plant project cannot be implemented."
After speaking out against joining NATO, Kontula began to write actively. She is called a "Putinist" — and many others.
"One citizen even offered me to have children — so that I would start thinking about the future differently. My youngest child recently turned 18 — and I'm already a grandmother."
One person noticed that Kontula did not mention Russia in her post with a statement.
"I didn't even think that when discussing the threat of a potential invasion of Finland, the word "Russia" should be mentioned separately. Did someone think that I was talking about Sweden or talking about a potential attack on Estonia's Finland?"
