Finland’s parliament votes yes to NATO

HELSINKI, May 17 (Reuters) - Finland's parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly accepted 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 government determined 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 in opposition to the applying, Speaker Matti Vanhanen stated.

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Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto mentioned the choice was no reason to have a good time because "there's conflict in Europe".

"Finland's membership in NATO will not change our basic pondering that we will always seek peaceful options and we're a peace-loving nation that will before everything seek diplomatic options to every conflict," he stated in the course of the debate.

Opponents to the applying 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 grow to be the border between the army alliance and Russia. New tensions would not be a danger only through the utility process however reasonably a brand new and permanent situation of our overseas and safety coverage," he said.

Early on Tuesday, the overseas affairs committee decided to affix the state leadership in proposing to parliament that the Nordic nation should apply for membership.

"Having heard a very large number of consultants and having received the opinions of 10 (parliamentary) committees, the international affairs committee agrees with the federal government that Finland should apply for membership in NATO. This determination is unanimous," chairman Jussi Halla-aho told reporters.

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

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