Finland’s parliament votes yes to NATO

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

President Sauli Niinisto and the federal government decided formally on Sunday that Finland would apply for membership however the choice was pending parliament's approval.

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

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Overseas Minister Pekka Haavisto stated the choice was no reason to have fun as a result of "there may be battle in Europe".

"Finland's membership in NATO won't change our primary thinking that we will all the time search peaceful solutions and we're a peace-loving nation that may first and foremost seek diplomatic options to every battle," he stated in the course of the debate.

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

"Our border would turn out to be the border between the navy alliance and Russia. New tensions would not be a threat solely throughout the application course of but moderately a new and everlasting situation of our foreign and security coverage," he stated.

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

"Having heard a really large variety of experts and having acquired the opinions of 10 (parliamentary) committees, the international affairs committee agrees with the government that Finland should apply for membership in NATO. This choice is unanimous," chairman Jussi Halla-aho advised reporters.

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

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