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Finland officially became a member of NATO

Finland officially became the 31st member of NATO, after the entire accession process was completed. The Finnish Foreign Minister, Pekka Haavisto, has already handed the document making Finland’s inclusion in the list of NATO officials to the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

This is a historical change prompted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finland’s accession nearly doubles the length of the border NATO shares with Russia and strengthens its eastern flank as the war in Ukraine drags on with no solution in sight.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Finland to his rank, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited his opposition to expansion of the alliance as justification for his invasion. “It gets quite the opposite [a lo que buscaba]. “Today Finland, and soon Sweden too, will become a full member of the alliance,” Stoltenberg said in Brussels.

In response, the Kremlin claimed that Russia would have to take “countermeasures” to Finland’s accession. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the move raised the possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

The event marked the end of an era of military non-alignment for Finland, which began after the country fended off an invasion attempt by the Soviet Union during World War II and chose instead to try to maintain friendly relations with neighboring Russia. But the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted the Finns to seek safety under NATO’s collective defense pact, which says that an attack on one member is an attack on all. (Reuters)