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Majority of Finns Opposed to Military Alliance: Poll
A large majority of the Finnish people are against military alliance with foreign countries or military blocs, a poll published Thursday shows.
The poll, conducted between May and June by a Finnish defense publicity organization, shows that 71 percent of the 1,000 pollees aged from 15 to 74 support the country's current military non-alliance policy, while 20 percent of them are opposed to it.
The rate of non-alliance supporters has remained stable since the beginning of last year when it rose to 70 percent from 60 percent in the fall of 1998, the organization said.
The survey is the seventh conducted annually by the group since 1996. Besides the group, other institutions have also conducted similar surveys in recent years to monitor public opinion in this Nordic country.
The results of the studies serve as references for the Finnish government to formulate its security policy. As the European Union is pushing common defense in Europe, relations between NATO and non-NATO member states in the EU have become a major part of the foreign and security policies of Finland.
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