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Finland will join NATO after membership ratification by the Turkish government – the latter held back among the 30 countries in the military alliance.
The Nordic country and its neighbor Sweden each broke decades of non-alignment by signaling last year that they wanted to join the alliance following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The accession bid was ratified at a summit of NATO leaders in Madrid last June. Since then, member states have gone through their own process to approve the request. Ratification must be unanimous among NATO members.
Both Finland and Sweden saw the offer held by Turkey, which suggested the countries were too lenient on groups that President Recep Erdoğan’s government considers terrorist organizations. To a lesser extent, Hungary also objected – but moved forward with ratification on Monday.
Finland’s Ambassador to Canada Roy Eriksson said membership in NATO would further strengthen the already important relationship between his country and Canada, especially in the Arctic.
Until now, he said, when you tilt the map to the far north, you see NATO countries and “big blobs of Finland and Sweden.” Now, he said, there will be a solid front on the northern border.
“It means a lot for NATO planning because you get deeper and the whole border … from the Arctic Sea to the Black Sea will be covered by NATO allies,” Eriksson told CBC News.
“And as an Arctic country like Canada, we know what challenges it means to be operational … in Arctic conditions. So I think we can exchange knowledge and understand the best way to survive in difficult conditions.”
Eriksson told a panel discussion in Ottawa on Thursday that military cooperation between his country and Canada has taken place. Whenever Finland donates military equipment to Ukraine, it is flown in by Canadian military transport planes, he said, because his country lacks strategic transport.
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Finland’s Ambassador to Canada Roy Eriksson said while he was pleased with the news, he hoped Sweden would join in at the same time.
From a policy perspective, he said, Finland’s inclusion in NATO would also help strengthen the Arctic Council – a coalition of countries bordering the Arctic region and holding regular meetings to improve the environment, social and economic conditions in the Far North. Russia is a member of the council but has been suspended since the invasion of Ukraine.
Finland and Sweden submitted NATO applications at the same time – but Turkey and Hungary still objected to Swedish membership.
“We are very happy that the ratification process is over, but a little sad, of course, because we hope that Sweden will join at the same time,” Eriksson said.
“I’m optimistic that he will join before then [next] NATO Summit in Vilnius in July.”
The next step in Finland’s journey is to send the received documents, signed by Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, to the US State Department, where the records of NATO’s founding document, the Washington Agreement, are kept.
After Finland’s membership was accepted, the Nordic countries officially became full members of NATO. If that happens, Finland is protected by the alliance’s self-defense clause, Article 5 – which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.
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