BRUSSELS: Finland will join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday (Apr 4), marking the completion of a swift journey into the military alliance for the Nordic nation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said.
Finland has a 1,300km border with Russia, meaning NATO’s frontier with Russia will roughly double in length, and the move drew a pledge from Moscow that it will beef up its forces in border regions.
“Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member of NATO making Finland safer and our alliance stronger,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels, hailing the move as “historic”.
“We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole,” Stoltenberg said.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto will travel to Brussels to take part in the ceremony, his office said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year pushed Finland and its neighbour Sweden to apply for NATO membership, abandoning decades of military non-alignment.
The last hurdle to Finland’s membership was removed last week when Turkey’s parliament voted to ratify Helsinki’s application even as it kept Sweden’s bid on hold.
“President Putin went to war against Ukraine with the clear aim to get less NATO,” Stoltenberg said. “He’s getting the exact opposite.”
Source: Chanel News Asia
