Finland will become the 31st member of the world’s largest military alliance, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The northern country, which applied for membership after Russia invaded Ukraine, will officially join on Tuesday.
“This is a historic week,” Stoltenberg said, “from tomorrow Finland will become a full member of the alliance.”
The former Norwegian prime minister said membership would be officially announced in the afternoon, when the Finnish flag was raised over NATO headquarters in Brussels.
“We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at NATO Headquarters,” he said, adding: “It will be a good day for the security of Finland, the security of the Nordic countries and NATO as a whole.”
Mr Stoltenberg said he hoped this would pave the way for neighboring Finland to join Sweden in the coming months.
We’re looking at Sweden’s bid and why it’s not yet a NATO member.
Sweden applied to join NATO?
Both Sweden and Finland formally applied for NATO membership on May 18, 2022., A few months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Previously, they refrained from joining the Western military alliance for reasons of neutrality.
But Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, designed to counter NATO expansion, backfired as both countries decided it was safer to join the alliance.
“President Putin launched a war against Ukraine with the express purpose of reducing the size of NATO,” Stoltenberg said. “He gets the complete opposite.”
As of July 5, all NATO member states have signed the Swedish accession protocol, but it is still awaiting ratification before membership is granted.
Sweden currently remains a “candidate country”.
Why haven’t you joined yet?
Although Sweden applied to join NATO at the same time as Finland, the application was rejected by two member states, Turkey and Hungary.
Turkey has not ratified Sweden’s request because it claims that members of terrorist groups that Ankara considers terrorists are hiding in Stockholm (Sweden denies this accusation) and has called for their extradition as a step towards ratifying Sweden’s membership.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Sweden of harboring militant Kurds, in particular the PKK and other anti-Turkish groups. He wants Sweden to take specific anti-terrorism measures before the ratification takes place.
Hungary is currently blocking Sweden’s entry, citing complaints about criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s policies.
“In the case of Sweden, there are a lot of grievances that need to be resolved before the country is ratified,” said Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs.
But NATO diplomats believe that Budapest will approve Sweden’s proposal if Turkey agrees.
When is joining expected?
Last month, the Swedish parliament approved the country’s accession to NATO.
And following Finland’s progress, Mr. Stoltenberg promised to work hard to get Sweden into the alliance as soon as possible, and expressed the hope that this will happen in the coming months.
Meanwhile, he stressed that NATO and Swedish officials are working to bring Sweden closer to the alliance, even as they await final membership.
Even if the admission of Sweden is further delayed, the admission of Finland, geographically sandwiched between Sweden and mainland Russia, will be an important defensive asset for the country against possible Russian military aggression.
How did Russia react?
Russia has warned that it will bolster defenses on its border with Finland if NATO deploys troops on its new member’s territory.
Finland shares a 810-mile border with Russia, about twice the transatlantic alliance’s border with that country.
Following the news of the membership, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said the country would strengthen its troops in the west and northwest.
“In the event that the forces and means of other NATO members are deployed in Finland, we will take additional steps to reliably ensure the military security of Russia,” he told the state information agency. RIA.
This comes after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said last year that Russia was taking “appropriate countermeasures” and would form 12 units and divisions in its Western Military District.
Source: I News
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