FRANKFURT, Germany, March 2 (UPI) -- Outgoing Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung NATO membership for Finland is "just a matter of time."
Lipponen said Finnish voters are not yet ready to see their country join NATO, but he stressed the country is moving in that direction. He added much of the information the Finnish public has about NATO membership is incomplete.
The speed with which Finland pursues NATO membership will depend on "what happens in NATO and what happens in the world," Lipponen said.
He acknowledged a large contingent of his own Social Democratic Party is opposed to NATO membership, but said that did not preclude the move.
Lipponen said his nation already works as closely with NATO as a non-member nation can. He spoke to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Berlin on a state visit during which he met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Christian Democratic party head Angela Merkel.
