Finland Becomes 31st Member Of NATO

In a historic realignment of the continent brought on by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland has joined the military alliance of NATO, striking a serious blow to Russia. The Nordic country’s border with Russia has doubled as a result of its formal entry into the largest security alliance in the world.

A significant shift in Europe’s security environment is brought about by Finland’s accession. After being defeated by the Soviet Union in the Second World War, the nation elected to remain neutral, but just a few months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine scared Moscow’s neighbors, the nation’s officials made it clear they intended to join the alliance.

Mr. Putin will suffer a strategic and political setback as a result of the action since he has long lamented Nato’s advance toward Russia and partially cited that as justification for the assault. Moscow, according to the alliance, is unaffected.

In response to what it described as security risks brought on by Finland’s participation, Russia forewarned that it would be compelled to take “retaliatory actions.”

Moscow has also threatened to increase its military presence close to Finland if NATO deploys any more personnel or supplies to its newest member.

Neighboring Sweden, which has resisted military alliances for more than 200 years, also submitted an application, but Turkey and Hungary, two other NATO members, raised concerns that caused the process to be postponed.

As Finland’s foreign minister gave the necessary paperwork to the US Secretary of State; Antony Blinken, membership became official. The US State Department is where NATO documents pertaining to membership are kept.

Blinken stated: “I’m tempted to say this is maybe the one thing that we can thank Mr. Putin for because he once again here precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia’s aggression, causing many countries to believe that they have to do more to look out for their defense and to make sure that they can deter possible Russian aggression going forward.”

“It’s a great day for Finland and an important day for Nato too,” said Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. “Russia tried to create a sphere around them and, well, we are not a sphere. I’m sure that Finns themselves feel more secure, that we are living in a more stable world.”

Previously, at the Nato headquarters in Brussels, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated to reporters that “there will be no Nato forces in Finland without the approval of Finland.”

But, he would not rule out the idea of conducting additional military drills there and declared that Nato will not submit to Russian demands when making choices.

“We are constantly assessing our posture, our presence. We have more exercises, we have more presence, also in the Nordic area,” he claimed.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said that Moscow will retaliate depending on what weapons Nato countries station there on Tuesday, claiming that Finland’s membership in the alliance indicates its anti-Russian stance.

“We will closely monitor what will be going on in Finland and how Nato will use the territory of Finland for the deployment of weapons, equipment, and infrastructure next to our border that would potentially threaten us. Measures will be taken dependent on that,” Mr. Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

Yet, Mr. Peskov also made an effort to minimize the effect by pointing out that Finland and Russia have no territorial conflicts.

What more military assets Russia could dispatch to the Finnish border is unclear. The majority of Moscow’s most effective military troops have been sent to Ukraine.

According to Mr. Stoltenberg, Finland will profit from NATO’s “iron-clad security guarantee,” which states that all members would defend any allies who are attacked.

By becoming (Finland) a full member, Mr. Stoltenberg said, “We are reducing the possibility for Moscow to misjudge Nato’s readiness to protect Finland, and that makes Finland safer and stronger, and all of us safer.”