Stubb to Push for Finnish NATO Membership
Finnish European Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Alexander Stubb said that as a minister he can not advocate joining NATO, but if elected to the European Parliament in May, he will do all he can to push Finland to join the alliance.
“NATO membership would increase security and the influence of Finland in security policy,” Stabb told Finnish news outlet Aamulehti.
As a government minister Stubb has had to speak the Cabinet's line on the issue, which avoiding the topic, but as a MEP he can back the cause.
“I will advocate membership as long as it is sensible, regardless what the polls show. For me it is a question of values,” said Stubb, who pointed out that 94 percent of the EU's population is in NATO.
Stubb could become the country's new prime minister in the summer after Jyrki Katainen, the current PM, resigns. The leader of the National Coalition Party, the party of both Katainen and Stubb, will name the new PM. Stubb said he will soon announce whether he will run for party leadership.