Finland to Hold Voting for NATO Membership Agreement Despite Sweden's Delay

Finland is to hold a voting scheduled by the Finnish Parliament for Wednesday afternoon to join NATO.

Finland aims to set this voting before the country's general elections in April, as public opinion supports NATO membership.

Many Finnish lawmakers pushed for the legalization to assert that Finland accepts the terms of the NATO treaty.

Only a handful of MPs voiced opposition during the debate on Tuesday.

However, some voices opposed the move such as Markus Mustajarvi. He also asked the parliament to strike down the bill.

Mustajarvi's point of view focused on the lack of guarantees that nuclear weapons would not be placed in Finland.

In the same context, Johannes Yrttiaho said: "Finland must act in such a way that its actions ease, not increase, tensions between nuclear powers."

But Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told the parliament that "this decision and legislation will not change Finland's position on nuclear weapons".

"The time is now to ratify and to fully welcome Finland and Sweden as members," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.

The legislation is expected to pass easily, after the initial membership legalization in May was supported by 188 of the 200 members in parliament.