A second citizens’ initiative calling for Finland to join NATO has received 50,000 signatures and will thus be considered by the Parliament

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  1. English translation:

    **A second citizens’ initiative calling for Finland to join NATO has received 50,000 signatures and will thus be considered by Parliament**

    *The initiative “Finland should apply for NATO membership in order to fulfill its human rights obligations set out in the Constitution” quickly gathered the required 50,000 signatures.*

    Ctizens’ initiatives calling for Finland’s membership in the defense alliance NATO have gained popularity at a rapid pace.

    Today on Wednesday, the required 50,000 signatures were received by an initiative demanding Finland to join directly. The initiative is dated on the 25th of February. The required support came quickly.

    Last Saturday, the threshold for consideration was passed by another initiative which in turn calls for a referendum on Finland’s NATO membership. It reached the 50,000 signature limit in five days and had a total of more than 76,000 signatures.

    **The initiative that passed the threshold for consideration today is justified by the protection of human rights.**

    The initiative now going to the Parliament calls for “the Parliament to decide to urge the President of the Republic and the Council of State to make the preparations for submitting a proposal to the Parliament for Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty would be ratified into force in Finland by law.”

    The citizens’ initiative justifies NATO membership in the current world situation, where Finland does not have security guarantees, although due to NATO co-operation, Finland can already be considered as a close NATO partner as it can only be without direct membership.

    In the current context, the signatories see that NATO “aims, through cooperation, to prevent war in the North Atlantic and to protect its member states from being attacked. Ultimately, it is a matter of securing our way of life through joint defense and security guarantees.” For this reason, full membership should be obtained.

    The Parliament and the President should fulfill their constitutional obligations to safeguard fundamental human rights through international cooperation by applying for NATO membership, the initiators state.

    The initiative is in the form of a very straightforward requirement to act and not an actual legislative initiative, like the former initiative already added to the Parliament’s agenda regarding a NATO referendum.

    One of the people in charge of the initiative is journalist Jessikka Aro , who works at YLE.

  2. I don’t understand how Putin doesn’t by now understand that his actions have the opposite effect. Or maybe he does, but he is just too stubborn to pull out?!

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