EU's mutual defense clause can be safeguard during NATO accession, Finland says

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BRUSSELS — Finland is also looking at the European Union’s mutual defense agreement as a security safeguard while its NATO application is processed, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told EU lawmakers on Thursday.

“Of course, we have been talking to our EU friends what kind of support could be, for example, the article 42.7 in these circumstances,” he said, addressing EU lawmakers via videolink.

He was referring to the EU’s mutual defense clause that states that “if a member state is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other member states shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power” in accordance with the United Nation’s rules for self-defense.

“I think it would be very important to underline the solidarity according to that article, because that’s in our mind something that’s already existing,” Haavisto said.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Bart Meijer)