Finland - April 2023

Finland has become the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), ending its neutrality and military non-alignment approach and marking a milestone for the Alliance’s and the country’s security. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Finland’s accession to NATO is a positive step not only for NATO and Finland, but for Nordic security, too. Finland’s membership process lasted less than a year. Despite close cooperation with NATO, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Finland and other Nordic countries had maintained a military non-alignment strategy. In a historical context that includes a 1939 invasion by the Soviet Union, the war in Ukraine led to the increased support for NATO membership in Finland.

Sources: Valtioneuvosto, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, British Broadcasting Corporation, NATO, CNN

The 2023 Finnish parliamentary elections resulted in a victory for the conservative National Coalition Party, led by Petteri Orpo. It was a defeat for the Social Democratic party of Prime Minister Sanna Marin. The center-right National Coalition Party scored 20.7 percent, followed by the right-wing the Finns with 20.1 per cent, whereas the Social Democrats received 19.9 per cent of the vote. Orpo, whose party has the first opportunity to form a government, has said that economic issues should be the next government’s top priority. While Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who became the world’s youngest head of government and formed a five-party coalition all led by women, did effectively respond to the concerns of Finnish citizens in relation to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the country’s economy and public debt were the main issues during these elections. Women candidates dominated the elections, including the Finns Party leader, Riikka Purra. 46 per cent of MPs in the new parliament are women. Voter turnout was 68.5 per cent, similar to 2019’s 68.7 per cent turnout.

Sources: Helsingin Sanomat, Euractiv (1), Euractiv (2), British Broadcasting Corporation, International IDEA