Finland’s parliament votes yes to NATO

HELSINKI, May 17 (Reuters) - Finland's parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly accredited a proposal to use for membership of the NATO military alliance in a historic coverage shift prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

President Sauli Niinisto and the federal government determined officially on Sunday that Finland would apply for membership but the determination was pending parliament's approval.

Of the 200 lawmakers, 188 voted in favour and eight towards the application, Speaker Matti Vanhanen said.

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International Minister Pekka Haavisto mentioned the decision was no purpose to have fun because "there's conflict in Europe".

"Finland's membership in NATO will not change our basic considering that we will always seek peaceful options and we are a peace-loving nation that can firstly seek diplomatic options to every conflict," he mentioned in the course of the debate.

Opponents to the application included some lawmakers from the Left Alliance, part of Finland's five-party coalition, among them Markus Mustajarvi who challenged the choice with a counter proposal leading to it being put to the vote.

"Our border would develop into the border between the navy alliance and Russia. New tensions would not be a danger only throughout the application process but fairly a new and everlasting condition of our foreign and safety coverage," he mentioned.

Early on Tuesday, the foreign affairs committee decided to hitch the state leadership in proposing to parliament that the Nordic nation ought to apply for membership.

"Having heard a really massive number of specialists and having received the opinions of 10 (parliamentary) committees, the foreign affairs committee agrees with the federal government that Finland ought to apply for membership in NATO. This determination is unanimous," chairman Jussi Halla-aho informed reporters.

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Reporting by Anne Kauranen; Editing by Robert Birsel and Alison Williams

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