Finland’s parliament votes yes to NATO

HELSINKI, May 17 (Reuters) - Finland's parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly accepted a proposal to apply for membership of the NATO navy 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 against the application, Speaker Matti Vanhanen stated.

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Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto mentioned the choice was no reason to celebrate because "there is battle in Europe".

"Finland's membership in NATO is not going to change our fundamental pondering that we are going to at all times seek peaceful options and we are a peace-loving nation that will initially seek diplomatic solutions to each conflict," he said 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 resulting in it being put to the vote.

"Our border would grow to be the border between the navy alliance and Russia. New tensions would not be a threat solely in the course of the software process however moderately a new and permanent situation of our foreign and safety coverage," he stated.

Early on Tuesday, the international affairs committee determined to join the state management in proposing to parliament that the Nordic country should apply for membership.

"Having heard a really massive variety of experts and having obtained the opinions of 10 (parliamentary) committees, the international affairs committee agrees with the federal government that Finland should 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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