Submitting NATO Membership, Finnish Foreign Minister Reveals Annual Fees Translucent IDR 1.6 Trillion

President Sauli Niinist\"o with the Finnish military. (Wikimedia Commons/MakeF)

JAKARTA - Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday his country is committed to maintaining defense spending at 2 percent of GDP, while becoming a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

On the same occasion, he revealed, there was an additional expenditure of around 70 million - 100 million euros (IDR 1.163.594.322.100 - IDR 1.662.277.603.000) for his administrative unit in the alliance per year.

"The annual cost of joining NATO, its administrative body, and command structure is estimated at 70-100 million euros. As a NATO member, Finland is committed to maintaining a defense spending level of at least 2 percent of the country's GDP," said Foreign Minister Haavisto while presenting the bill on NATO membership. Finland before the Finnish Parliament, cited from Sputnik News, December 14.

He further explained, the need for additional personnel due to participation will be 110 people in 2023 and will be determined in time.

In addition, membership will also encourage a larger volume of classified documents to be processed by the Finnish authorities.

"One of the main consequences of NATO membership for the operations of authorities will be the organization of various national information security functions to the level provided for by NATO information security requirements. The volume of classified information will increase, and the demand for its processing will increase," said Haavisto.

At the same time, the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament Matti Vanhanen in turn noted, the bill could be adopted quickly because 188 out of 200 MPs voted for NATO membership in the spring.

For your information, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership on May 18, along with Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Until now, only Turkey and Hungary, NATO members have not ratified the approval of Sweden and Finland's membership applications.