Finland becomes the 31st member of the world’s largest military alliance, prompting a warning from Russia.
Finland on Tuesday will become the 31st member of the world’s largest military alliance, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says, prompting a warning from Russia that it will beef up its defenses in response.
“This is a historic week,” Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday, on the eve of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. “Finland will be a full member of the alliance from tomorrow.”
He hopes that Sweden, which has applied for membership at the same time as Finland, can also join NATO in the coming months.
The former Norwegian prime minister said on Tuesday afternoon: “We will be raising the Finnish flag here at NATO headquarters for the first time. It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole.”
Stoltenberg said Turkey, the latest NATO country to ratify Finland’s membership, will hand over its official texts to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday. Stoltenberg said he will then invite Finland to do the same.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen will attend the ceremony along with Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
“This is a historic moment for us,” Haavisto said in a statement. “For Finland, the most important goal of the meeting will be to emphasize NATO’s support for Ukraine while Russia continues its illegal aggression. We want to promote stability and security throughout the Euro-Atlantic region.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Moscow will respond to Finland’s NATO membership by strengthening its defenses.
“We will strengthen our military potential in the west and north-west,” Grushko said in a statement provided by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. “In the event of deployment of armed forces of other NATO members on the territory of Finland, we will take additional steps to ensure Russia’s military security.”
The announcement of Finland’s accession came shortly after Finnish voters gave a boost to the conservative parties in the weekend’s general election and robbed left-wing Prime Minister Sanna Marin of another term. Marin had campaigned for her country to join NATO.
Nordic neighbors Finland and Sweden abandoned their traditional positions of military non-alignment to seek protection under NATO’s security umbrella after Russia invaded Ukraine just over a year ago.
All 30 existing members signed the accession protocols of Finland and Sweden. Turkey and Hungary then delayed the process for months, but gave way to Finland. Turkey has sought guarantees and assurances from the two countries, particularly on fighting what it considers “terrorist” organizations. Hungary’s demands were never explicit.
NATO must unanimously approve the accession of new members. NATO officials are keen to get Sweden on board ahead of a July 11-12 NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.
“Sweden will not be left alone. Sweden is as close as it can get as a full member,” said Stoltenberg.