MORE AND MORE Finns are supportive of Finland seeking membership in Nato, indicates a survey conducted for Helsingin Sanomat on 22–27 April.
Helsingin Sanomat on Thursday reported that 65 per cent of the public are presently in favour of joining the defence alliance, representing an increase of six percentage points from the previous survey and one of four points from the previous record set in late March.
The share of respondents who oppose the membership has fallen by four points to 13 per cent and that of respondents who have no opinion on the issue from 24 to 22 per cent.
The latest survey indicates that support for the defence alliance has increased among women, from 50 to 59 per cent between mid and late April. More than 70 per cent of men remain in favour of the country submitting a membership application to Nato.
Support for Nato remains the highest among older age groups and the lowest among younger age groups, even though more than half of under 30-year-olds are also supportive of applying for membership.
While the National Coalition’s supporters are most widely in favour of applying (86%), the membership is backed also by the clear majority of supporters of the Centre, Greens, Finns Party and Social Democrats. Supporters of the Left Alliance are the only group of respondents by political affiliation who do not support the idea at a rate of at least 50 per cent, even though the proportion of supporters (41%) trumps that of opponents (28%) also among them.
A total of 1,062 people responded to the online survey conducted by Kantar TNS. The results have a margin of error of +/-3.0 per cent.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
