The length of member states’ borders with Russia has doubled as a result of Finland joining NATO as its 31st partner.
The US secretary of state accepted the accession paper from the Finnish foreign minister and admitted Finland as a member. Then, in the bright sunlight, Finland’s white and blue flag joined a circle of 30 other flags in front of NATO’s gleaming new headquarters.
In order to finish the process of joining NATO, the Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto handed a formal document to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The United States Department of State is the repository for all official documents pertaining to NATO membership. The leader of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, hailed it as “a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security, and for NATO as a whole.”
He added, “This will strengthen NATO and make Finland safer.” The NATO membership procedure has never been this quick. Sauli Väinämö Niinistö, president of Finland, stated that membership was not “targeted against anyone” and that his nation was “stable and predictable.”
What does NATO Membership of Finland mean for Russia?
Vladimir Putin of Russia suffers a defeat with the admission of Finland. Before his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he had frequently criticised NATO’s growth. By attacking his neighbour, the Russian leader, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, had sparked precisely what he had hoped to stop.
Russian officials will be “watching closely” what transpires in Finland, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who also referred to Nato’s expansion as a “violation of our security and our national interests.”
Finland and Russia have an eastern border that measures 1,340 kilometres (832 miles), and Helsinki decided to rely on Nato’s Article Five, which states that an assault on one member is an attack on all members, after the conflict in Ukraine started.
It effectively means that all NATO members, including the US, would defend Finland if it were to come under invasion or assault. Following Russia’s incursion, support for Finland’s membership in NATO increased to 80%.
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