Half of Finns would withdraw Finnish troops from Afghanistan, either immediately or gradually, suggests a survey published by Verkkoapila, a Centre Party news website, and the web edition of Centre Party organ Suomenmaa on Friday.

The survey indicated that 26 per cent of Finns supported decreasing the number of Finnish soldiers in Afghanistan progressively. 11 per cent of respondents would withdraw troops immediately while 13 per cent thought Finland should give up military crisis management and peacekeeping altogether.

21 per cent of respondents did not hold any view on the matter, while 19 per cent thought the number of Finnish troops should be kept at the current level for as long as the United States was still in Afghanistan. Ten per cent felt that Finland should be prepared to increase the number of troops it has in Afghanistan.

Over 1,200 Finns responded to the survey conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) on 19-25 March.

STT