Finland to Become 31st NATO Member on Tuesday

By Adedapo Adesanya

Finland will become the 31st member of the world’s biggest military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), on Tuesday, April 4.

This was disclosed by the group’s secretary general, Mr Jens Stoltenberg.

This move has prompted a warning from Russia that it would bolster its defences near their joint border if NATO deploys any troops inside the country.

Mr Stoltenberg on Monday said, “From tomorrow, Finland will be a full member of the alliance.”

He also said he hoped Sweden would be able to join in the coming months.

“Sweden is not left alone. Sweden is as close as it can come as a fully-fledged member,” Mr Stoltenberg added.

Mr Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, said on Tuesday afternoon, “we will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at the NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security, and for NATO as a whole.”

Mr Stoltenberg said Turkey, the last country to ratify Finland’s membership, would hand its official texts to the US secretary of state, Mr Antony Blinken, on Tuesday.

He said he would then invite Finland to do the same.

The Finnish President, Sauli Niinistö, and the defence minister, Antti Kaikkonen, will attend the ceremony, along with the foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto.

“It is a historic moment for us. For Finland, the most important objective at the meeting will be to emphasise Nato support to Ukraine as Russia continues its illegal aggression,” Haavisto said in a statement.

“We seek to promote stability and security throughout the Euro-Atlantic region.”

Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mr Alexander Grushko, said Russia would respond to Finland becoming a member of the alliance by bolstering its defences if needed.

“We will strengthen our military potential in the west and in the north-west,” Mr Grushko said, adding that,“In case of deployment of 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 entry came hours after Finnish voters gave a boost to conservative parties in a weekend election, depriving the leftwing prime minister, Sanna Marin, of another term.

Ms Marin had championed her country’s NATO accession.

Fearing they might be targeted after Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, the Nordic neighbours Finland and Sweden abandoned their traditional positions of military non-alignment to seek protection under Nato’s security umbrella.

All 30 allies signed Finland’s and Sweden’s accession protocols. Turkey and Hungary delayed the process for months but have relented on Finland. Turkey has sought guarantees and assurances from the two countries, notably on tackling extremism. Hungary’s demands have never been explicit.

NATO must agree unanimously for new members to join. The alliance’s officials are also keen to bring Sweden within the fold before a meeting between the US president, Joe Biden, and his NATO counterparts in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, July 11-12.