Termination of Åland Islands' demilitarised status agreement discussed in France

After Finland joined NATO, the question surfaced about the relevance of the agreement with Russia on the demilitarization of the Åland Islands.

The Åland Islands have had the status of a demilitarized territory since 1856, which has been repeatedly confirmed in various documents. However, in Finland, a number of politicians advocated for terminating this agreement with Russia, Lenta.Ru reports, citing the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.

In particular, the ex-commander of the defence forces, a member of the Finnish parliament, General Jarmo Lindberg, said that Helsinki's membership in NATO casts doubt on the peaceful status of the islands. His opinion is shared by the former head of intelligence of the defence forces, the newly elected MP from the National Coalition party, Pekka Toveri, who called for the remilitarisation of the islands because of Moscow's "aggressive policy."

In turn, the head of the municipality of the islands, Veronikik Ternros, called for maintaining the demilitarised status of the islands. He is convinced that demilitarized zones can exist within NATO - for example, the Norwegian Svalbard.