Finland to Debate NATO Petition in Parliament

• Finland to Debate NATO Petition in Parliament
  by https://www.france24.com/en/
  Helsinki (AFP) – Finnish MPs will debate how to handle a petition calling for a vote on NATO membership on Tuesday as a poll showed a historic change in attitude in the traditionally non-aligned country after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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  Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a Twitter post Monday evening that a planned debate in parliament the following day would cover the situation in Ukraine and was not intended as a “wider conversation on Finland’s policy regarding military alignment or non-alignment”.
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  But she added that since a citizen’s petition requesting a parliament debate on a referendum had reached the necessary 50,000 signatories to trigger a debate in parliament, it “makes sense to hear the parties’ views on handling the issue.”
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  “From this perspective, the issue will also figure in tomorrow’s parliamentary debate,” Marin said. The petition, which is calling for a referendum on membership, was launched last Monday and reached the targeted 50,000 by the end of the week.
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