By 
Finnish political parties gathered Tuesday to discuss joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a first step to possibly ending the Nordic nation’s decadeslong nonaligned status and another sign of the tectonic shifts in Europe’s security landscape prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
See: Vladimir Putin has issued veiled threats against countries that aid Ukraine
Also: Zelensky’s emotional video appeal to European Parliament is met with standing ovation in chamber
The parliamentary debate followed a decision Monday to send military aid to Ukraine, breaking with a longstanding Finnish policy of not sending weapons to war zones. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin at a news conference Monday called the decision historic.
Watching 200,000 Russian troops amass on the border with Ukraine, a country with eight times the population of Finland, unsettled many in the Nordic country, which was a part of Russia until 1917 and was invaded by half a million Soviet troops in 1939.
Finland shares the European Union’s longest border with Russia, a key factor in its decision not to antagonize Moscow by joining NATO.
An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.
Trending at WSJ.com:
Russia targets Ukrainian civilian areas in tactical shift and strikes Kyiv TV tower
Comments