A poll by the Finnish public broadcaster Yle this week shows that for the first time more than half of Finns are in favor of Finland joining NATO. Also in neighboring Sweden there are now more supporters than opponents of NATO membership. “The unthinkable may well be becoming imaginable,” tweeted former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, himself a staunch supporter.
Neither country will join the military alliance overnight. Support for NATO membership sometimes rises and then falls in Sweden and Finland. Moreover, there is no clear majority in favor of joining NATO in the respective parliaments.