Stockholm NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke of a “historic day” when he hoisted the Finnish flag in front of the defense alliance’s headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday afternoon. With the ceremony in the presence of the NATO foreign ministers, Finland is the 31st member of the western military alliance. Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto handed over the NATO accession document to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will keep it at the founding site in Washington.
Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö underlined that his country’s NATO accession was an “important day for Finland”. He stressed that he hoped that Sweden would soon join NATO. This has so far been blocked by Hungary and Turkey.
Russia criticized Finland’s admission. This was “an attack on the security and national interests of Russia,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
NATO membership is a historic step for Finland: The country was neutral for more than eight decades, meaning it was not a member of any military alliance. But the situation changed fundamentally with the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The country, with its more than 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, feels threatened and submitted its application for NATO membership together with Sweden last year.
Both countries originally wanted to become members of the defense alliance at the same time. However, admission is not possible without the approval of Budapest and Ankara, since all NATO members have to agree to join.
Finland joins NATO as the 31st member
While Hungary is angered by Swedish criticism of a lack of rule of law in the country, Turkey accuses Sweden of supporting terrorist organizations. By this Ankara means the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK. “Sweden allows terrorist organizations and at the same time expects our support for joining NATO. That will not happen,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized for allowing demonstrations by Kurdish organizations in Stockholm.
Erdogan is also demanding the extradition of Kurdish activists whom he describes as terrorists. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country could not and would not meet these demands because they were not in line with the Swedish constitution. Negotiations between Ankara and Stockholm have now resumed.
Finland strengthens NATO
Finnish President Niinistö has repeatedly emphasized that Finland’s entry into NATO is only complete when neighboring Sweden is also a member. In Helsinki and Stockholm it is hoped that Sweden’s accession can be completed at the latest in connection with the NATO summit in July in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Finland is a welcome reinforcement for NATO. The country is significantly strengthening the alliance with 23,000 professional soldiers and 280,000 conscripts. In addition, Finland has 870,000 reservists.
Secretary General Stoltenberg welcomes Finland to NATO
Finland joined NATO exactly 74 years to the day after the defense alliance was founded in Washington. At just 11 months, it was the quickest onboarding process for any member.
More: Hungary is making Sweden wait for NATO’s northern expansion – with ever new justifications