Finland joined NATO on Tuesday as a new member and thus becomes the 31st ally of the military bloc, after Turkey completed ratification of its entry after months of reluctance due to the lack of cooperation in the fight against Kurdish terrorism by Finland and Sweden, the processing of which is still pending.
The formal step comes after Finland completed the accession process by handing over its instrument of accession at a ceremony at NATO headquarters on the occasion of the foreign ministers’ meeting.
Helsinki’s entry into NATO also coincides with the anniversary of the Treaty of Washington with which the military organization was founded 74 years ago today, so the ceremony is laden with symbolism.
Finland formally applied for NATO membership in May 2022, together with Sweden, in an unprecedented shift from its policy of neutrality in direct response to the growing threat posed by Russian expansionist activities in Ukraine. Not for nothing does Finland share more than 1,300 kilometers of border with Russia.
The integration of the two Nordic countries as a bloc initially met with Turkey’s misgivings, which seemed to have been resolved following a tripartite agreement in the hours prior to the Atlantic Alliance leaders’ summit in Madrid. Not so for Sweden, which remained in the sights of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ankara’s blockade of Stockholm resulted in Helsinki advancing alone. Although the Finnish government initially maintained that its intention was always to go hand in hand with Sweden, the impossibility of moving forward together led Finland to assume that it would have to go it alone if it wanted to achieve its goal in the short term.
Thus, the final approval of Hungary and Turkey -Erdogan promulgated the accession this past Saturday- led to the formal ceremony on Tuesday, with which Finland became the 31st member state of NATO’s Atlantic Alliance and is entitled to the same clauses as the other partners, including collective defense.
The final entry also comes at a key moment internally in Finland, since Sunday’s parliamentary elections ended with the victory of the Conservatives to the detriment of the Social Democrats, led by the current Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, who, despite improving in votes and seats, will probably not be revalidated.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
