Tuesday April 4, 2023 | 11:45 a.m.
Finland officially became a member of NATO on Tuesday and will join the ranks of the world’s largest security alliance, completing the ratification process.
Faced with this historic step, neighboring Russia has already warned that it will reinforce its defenses near the border they share if NATO deploys additional troops or equipment to what will be its 31st member.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto completed the accession process by handing over an official document to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
“We declare Finland the 31st member of the alliance,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said upon receiving the legal documents. Finland’s accession to the transatlantic alliance adds 1,300 kilometers to the direct border between NATO and Russia, and implies that the country is covered by Article 5 of collective defense of the Alliance
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg stressed that Vladimir Putin had “wanted to slam the door on NATO.” But he added: “Today we show the world that (Putin) failed, that aggression and intimidation don’t work.”
Subsequently, the blue and white flag of Finland was raised among those of its partners before the NATO headquarters in Brussels. The president of the country and the foreign and defense ministers participated in the event.
“This is a truly historic day, a great day for the Alliance,” said Stoltenberg, who recalled that the ceremony coincides with the 74th anniversary of the birth of NATO, on April 4, 1949.
US President Joe Biden said he is proud to welcome Finland to NATO. “Together – strengthened by our new ally Finland – we will continue to preserve transatlantic security, defending every inch of NATO territory,” Biden said in a statement. He also called on Turkey and Hungary to join the rest of NATO “without delay” in ratifying Sweden’s entry into the alliance.
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.
“Finland will contribute to the Alliance substantial military forces, well trained, well equipped, also with a large army of reservists,” said Stoltenberg, who stressed that Helsinki is “among the few countries that did not reduce investment in defense at the end of World War II World”.
Turkey was the latest ally to ratify Finland’s accession protocol on Thursday.
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. Ankara continues to have doubts about Sweden’s commitments to tackle Kurdish terrorism.
Stoltenberg expressed confidence that Sweden would become a member of the Alliance, which he considered “a priority for NATO” and “for me”, adding that he hopes that will happen in the “near future”.
“It is the fastest accession process in history,” he added, in any case, about the progress of both countries, which were formally invited to join the Alliance last summer.
