BRUSSELS (AP) — Finland will officially become a member of NATO later Tuesday, joining the ranks of the world’s largest security alliance.
Neighboring Russia has already warned that it will beef up its defenses near their shared border if NATO deploys additional troops or equipment to what will be its 31st member.
Finland’s blue and yellow flag is scheduled to be flown among those of its partners in front of NATO headquarters in Brussels. The country’s president and the foreign and defense ministers will participate in the event.
The ceremony coincides with the 74th anniversary of the signing of the Washington Treaty, which gave rise to the Alliance, on April 4, 1949, as well as a summit of its foreign ministers.
Turkey was the latest ally to ratify Finland’s accession protocol on Thursday. Before the ceremony, Ankara will hand over the document officially enshrining that decision to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Finland will then provide Blinken with their own texts to make their entry official.
Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022, leaving behind decades of military nonalignment to seek the protection of the organization’s security umbrella. Neighboring Sweden also submitted its candidacy, but its entry process could take a few more months.
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre (832-mile) border with Russia, so its addition will more than double the size of the country’s NATO border. The decision is a strategic and political setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about the Alliance’s expansion into his nation.
