Finland hints it may not dare apply to join NATO for fear of angering Russia and prompting cyber attacks

 Finland could face mass cyber attacks and even a Russian invasion if it tries to join NATO, the country's president has warned.

President Sauli Niinisto said Moscow would send a 'robust' military force into the country and 'destabilise Finnish society' through cyber hacks should Helsinki ask to enter the Western military alliance.

Niinisto added: 'We don’t even know all the possibilities for hybrid influencing that someone may invent. The entire world of information technology is vulnerable. 

Finnish president Sauli Niinisto (right) met with Boris Johnson (left) at Number Ten this month

Finnish PM Sanna Marin has taken a hard line against Moscow and supports tougher sanctions

Were Finland to join NATO, it would become the sixth state to share a land border with Russia 

Vladimir Putin has expressed his fear of NATO encirclement around Russia, warning Finland and Sweden they would be met with 'military and political consequences' should they join  

'Even some important society functions can be disrupted.'

The president made the striking comments as a record majority of Finns now support joining NATO, despite Russian warnings against the idea. 

Public support for Finland's entry was 62% earlier this month, up from 53% at the start of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Last month Russian foreign affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Finland and Sweden risk 'military consequences' if they launch a NATO accession bid.

She said: 'Finland and Sweden should not base their security on damaging the security of other countries.

'Their accession to NATO can have detrimental consequences and some military and political consequences.'

If Finland were to join the alliance, it would become the sixth member of the alliance to share a land border Russia - further escalating Kremlin fears of NATO 'encirclement'.

Yet any potential NATO entry bid by Helsinki won't be the president's decision. 

Although Finland's president is technically in charge of foreign policy, the role is now mostly constitutional.

Prime minister Sanna Marin - who has championed a tougher sanctions regime against Moscow and said Finland's position toward NATO 'will change' as a result of the war in Ukraine - is far likelier to lead any possible Finnish bid.

Marin's tough view towards the Kremlin has made her one of the West's most hardline leaders. 

She has repeatedly refused to rule out a Finnish application to join the alliance - unlike Ukrainian president Zelensky.

Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin has repeatedly refused to rule out a NATO entry bid 

Finland and Russia fought a brief but bloody war over the winter of 1939-1940 in -43C climes

What Finland and Ukraine do have in common are testy relations with Russia: Finns are proud of the defence of their country against Stalin's aggression in the Winter War of 1939 and 1940.

Facing up to 750,000 invading Soviet troops in -43C temperatures, a Finnish army half that size held off a Russian invasion for three months until it agreed a ceasefire.