After Finland joined NATO, the country’s parliament raised the issue of the relevance of the agreement on the demilitarization of the Åland Islands, RBC reports citing the Finnish media.
On the eve of the parliamentary elections, the candidates commented on the assertion that the demilitarization of the Alands should be abandoned. In particular, the former commander of the Finnish Defense Forces, Jarmo Lindberg (Conservative Party), who was elected to parliament, said that he more or less agrees with this position.
“In the current security situation, it should also be possible to openly discuss this issue. After we joined NATO and made such important decisions, we can discuss this issue quite openly,” he said, stressing that he is not an active supporter of the refusal to demilitarize the territories.
According to a poll of representatives of factions, almost half of the deputies fully or partially support the rejection of the demilitarization of the Alands (23 and 26.5% of the total, respectively).
However, the head of the municipality of the islands, Veronika Turnroos, said that Aland should maintain its demilitarized status. The only deputy from the Åland Islands in the Finnish parliament, Mats Lefström (Swedish People’s Party), is of the same opinion. Former Finnish Defense Minister Jan-Erik Enestam said that the discussion of the remilitarization of the Alands is an “unnecessary risk” that only “provokes Russia.”
Finnish President Sauli Niiniste also spoke out against the refusal to demilitarize the islands. On April 13, he said that the situation in these territories is more stable than ever, and also noted that the international agreement “cannot be abandoned just like that.”
Source: Rosbalt
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