diplomacy
Finland will become an official NATO member today
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: Finland will join NATO this Tuesday Photo
© Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/dpa
The largest defense alliance in the world is getting bigger today. Finland joins a state with a long border with Russia. Blame yourself, is the message to Moscow.
Finland will officially become a member of NATO today. According to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, a ceremony in front of the NATO headquarters in Brussels is planned for the country’s accession in the afternoon. The Finnish flag will also be hoisted there for the first time.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her 29 colleagues from the other current member states, who are expected for a regular meeting at the alliance headquarters anyway, are also invited to the ceremony.
Signal to Putin
Stoltenberg spoke of a “historic week” for NATO. Accession is good for Finland’s security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole. Finland will contribute substantial, well-trained and well-trained armed forces, which are also currently investing in more than 60 state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jets. In addition, the country is one of the few states that did not reduce operational readiness after the end of the Cold War.
The Norwegian also made it clear that he sees Finland’s admission to NATO as a clear sign of the failure of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policies. Putin went into the war against Ukraine with the declared goal of having less NATO in Europe and preventing further expansion of the alliance, he explained. With Finland’s accession, NATO’s border with Russia will now more than double with an additional 1,300 kilometers.
Erdogan finally agreed
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden decided last year to apply for NATO membership after a long period of military freedom from alliances. However, Turkey, which has to agree as one of the current 30 members, initially expressed concerns and thus delayed accession for months. It was not until mid-March that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he was giving up his previous opposition to Finland’s accession.
Erdogan has maintained the blockade against Sweden’s accession to this day. Above all, he accuses the country of a lack of action against “terrorist organizations”. Ankara is primarily concerned with the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK. Erdogan initially made similar allegations against Finland. Sweden has also not yet approved Hungary.
Stoltenberg said of the Turkish blockade that he was absolutely confident that Sweden would also become a member. Sweden will not be left alone and can already count on NATO reacting to threats or attacks against the country.