NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that as of today (Tuesday) Finland will join the military alliance and become the 31st member of NATO. Finland’s request was approved after it demanded it due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, which raised concerns in Helsinki Because Russia might invade them as well.
Also, the request was approved after Turkey delayed the request of the Finns when Erdoğan claimed that in Helsinki they support the Kurds, who are at the front against the government in Ankara and are referred to by Erdoğan as “terrorists”. Sweden, along with Finland, has applied to join the alliance, but Turkey is still delaying it due to similar complaints against their support for the Kurds.
The NATO Secretary General said that “we will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at NATO headquarters. It will be a great day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole. Sweden will also be safer as a result of joining us.”
The significance of Finland joining the military alliance is that, if Finland is attacked militarily, its NATO members will react together with it against that country. Finland has a 1,340 km border with Russia and the administration in Helsinki worked vigorously to approve the application for NATO membership and to protect the country from a Russian invasion. Also, Finnish public opinion changed completely after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Support for NATO membership jumped from a third to almost 80% of Finnish residents.
On the other hand, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Grushko, said about Finland joining NATO: “In the event that the forces and resources of other NATO members are deployed in Finland, we will take additional steps to reliably ensure Russia’s military security.” He did not specify.