‘More united than ever’: NATO welcomes Finland into fold today

Finland joined NATO on Tuesday, becoming the 31st member of the world’s largest security alliance in a historic realignment prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Finland’s entry, which will be marked by a flag-raising ceremony at NATO headquarters, falls on the anniversary of the organization, the 74th anniversary of the signing of the Washington Treaty on April 4, 1949. It also coincides with the alliance meeting. foreign minister.

The President of Finland and the foreign and defense ministers will attend the ceremony.

Last week, Turkey became the last NATO member state to ratify Finland’s membership protocol. It will hand over the document officially announcing the decision to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the ceremony.

Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland applied to join NATO in May, setting aside years of military non-alignment to seek protection under the organization’s security umbrella.

Neighboring Sweden is also applying, but the accession process could take a few more months. Turkey and Hungary have each raised issues with Sweden that they want to address before ratification can take place.

Canada is proud to be the 1st to ratify

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly praised Finland’s entry on Tuesday in a statement.

“Today, as the Finnish flag will fly at NATO headquarters for the first time, we stand more united than ever,” he said. “Canada is proud to be the first country to ratify Finland’s accession, and we are working with Finland and our NATO partners to maintain momentum during the ratification process.”

He continued: “With Finland, and soon together with Sweden, we are stronger than ever and ready to stand together in some of the most important challenges to our collective security in decades.”

Finland has a 1,340 kilometer border with Russia, so its entry would be more than twice the size of NATO’s border with Russia.

NATO chiefs say they won’t send more troops to the Nordic countries unless they ask for help, however.

“There will be no NATO forces in Finland without the consent of Finland,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels hours before the country joined.

But he refused to rule out the possibility of conducting more military exercises there and said NATO would not allow Russia’s demands to dictate the organization’s decisions.

“We are constantly evaluating our posture, our presence. We have more training, we have more, also in the Nordic region,” he said.

Russia warned against the buildup

The move is a strategic and political blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about NATO’s expansion into Russia.

“President Putin has as a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less NATO,” Stoltenberg said. “He took the exact opposite.”

Russia has warned it will increase defenses on its border with NATO if the alliance sends additional troops or equipment to the new member.

“We will strengthen our military potential in the west and in the northwest,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Friday, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti. “If it is the case of the deployment of other NATO member forces on the territory of Finland, we will take additional measures to ensure the security of the Russian military.”

Finland’s membership became official when the foreign minister himself handed over the documents completing the accession process to Blinken. The US State Department is a repository of NATO texts on membership.