In his memoirs, Boris Johnson looks back on the beginnings of the Finnish NATO process, the ex-minister reveals what made him happy in Helsinki

London

Great Britain former minister Boris Johnson looks back on Finland and Sweden's NATO process in 2022 in his memoirs.

Johnson writes how proud he was of Britain's role in coming to support Finland and Sweden at a risky time, that is, after applying for membership and without becoming a member.

We in the UK have therefore officially proposed that British troops come to the rescue. [venlisen] in the event of assault.

Johnson himself felt the risk of Venj being teased or teased was low.

But that's what we said [aiemmin] also from the Venj jump in Ukraine.

Johnson The memoir hit stores Thursday.

The name of the book of more than 700 pages is Unchainedwhich we can call, for example, unleashed.

The name has already caused amusement in Britain, because even during his tenure as prime minister from 2019 to 2022, Johnson could not be considered particularly formal or attractive.

Johnson recounts how he met the president in Helsinki Sauli Niinistn.

The Finnish reader is happy that the points of the letter Niinistn are in their place in the text.

Johnson, on the other hand, was delighted with what he experienced in Helsinki:

Born oils [Suomessa] so popular that there was a small group of pro-Johnson protesters at the door: nothing like this has ever happened in Downing Street.

The official residence of the British Prime Minister is located on Downing Street in London.

Johnson I also noticed that the Presidential Palace in Helsinki is located on the Gulf of Finland and is therefore very close to St. Petersburg.

Finland and Sweden began their process to become members of the NATO military alliance shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

According to Johnson, this shows how thorough Venj's president was Vladimir Putin had assessed the situation.

He wanted less NATO on his borders, but instead doubled the border with the alliance.

According to Johnson, the seventy-five-year neutrality of Finland and Sweden ended at the same time. [neutrality].

Johnson in his book President of France Emmanuel Macroniawho a few years earlier had called NATO brain dead.

Johnson believes that in Finland as in Sweden, the change of heart regarding NATO membership came from deep within the population and not so much from political parties.

For decades [Suomi ja Ruotsi] kept their non-alignment pure and chaste. But then these two wonderful Scandinavian countries said enough is enough, it's time to join the soldiers, we want the security created by NATO, Johnson writes freely in Finnish.

To be precise, Finland is not a Scandinavian country. However, in familiar Britain, Finland is often grouped with the Scandinavian countries.

Johnson also recalls that the strongest opposition to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership came from Turkey.

However, looking back, Johnson says he was sure [Nato-kokouksessa] from an old friend who sat next to him, the president of Turkey That of Recep Tayyip Erdoan the resistance will melt.

The Turkish parliament approved Finland's membership in NATO at the end of March 2023. Earlier, another brakeman, Hungary, gave the green light. Finland became a member of NATO on April 4, 2023.

The Swedish NATO process lasted about eleven months longer.

The old Conservative Prime Minister Johnson's memoirs have attracted much attention in Britain. Even before the book was published, the tabloid The Daily Mail offered selected information, the revelations of which were also cited by others.

Headlines have notably claimed that Johnson even considered traveling to the Netherlands so that Britain could get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Johnson had to resign as Prime Minister in the summer of 2022, when his own Conservative Party MPs and several ministers in his own government turned against him.

The announcement of the forced separation was preceded by many emotions.

Johnson However, he did not reject the idea that one day he would return to politics.

In an interview with Times Radio Thursday morning, Johnson compared sworn politicians to cockroaches who have a strong desire to survive and continue their careers. He also compared politicians to wasps invading a jam jar.

Johnson's book is expected to be a commercial success. The guardian news Already last week, the memoir had shot to the top of Amazon's bestseller list in the United Kingdom even before its publication.

It was reported that Johnson received an advance of more than €600,000 for the work.