Finland’s parliament votes yes to NATO

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

President Sauli Niinisto and the federal government decided 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 in opposition to the applying, Speaker Matti Vanhanen mentioned.

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Overseas Minister Pekka Haavisto mentioned the choice was no reason to have fun because "there's battle in Europe".

"Finland's membership in NATO is not going to change our basic considering that we'll at all times seek peaceful options and we're a peace-loving nation that will firstly seek diplomatic solutions to each conflict," he said throughout 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 choice with a counter proposal resulting in it being put to the vote.

"Our border would turn into the border between the navy alliance and Russia. New tensions wouldn't be a threat solely during the utility process however rather a new and permanent condition of our foreign and security coverage," he said.

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

"Having heard a really large number of consultants and having obtained the opinions of 10 (parliamentary) committees, the overseas affairs committee agrees with the 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; Enhancing by Robert Birsel and Alison Williams

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