NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced today (Monday) that Finland will officially become a full member state in the alliance as of tomorrow (Tuesday), and will participate in its meetings.
"Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member," Stoltenberg said. The Finnish flag will be raised on Tuesday afternoon at NATO headquarters in Brussels. He stressed that the land borders of the alliance with Russia will double with the accession of Finland, a country that will provide NATO with trained forces, equipment and a large number of reserve forces, as he put it.
He pointed out that "the accession of the Scandinavian country to the alliance violated the expectations of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and we proved through him that the doors of NATO are not closed," revealing that Sweden's accession to the alliance in the near future is another goal for NATO countries.
Stoltenberg described Finland's accession as "the fastest in the recent history of the alliance," expressing his hope that Sweden would be received as a member of the alliance "as soon as possible."
Stoltenberg announced (Friday) that Finland will officially join NATO "within days," after Turkey decided to ratify its accession.
In response to Finland's accession, "Novosti" agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying that his country will enhance its military capabilities in the north and west of the country.
Finland and Sweden requested to join the alliance following the Russian war on Ukraine, but Turkey and Hungary had to agree to this accession, as last Thursday the Turkish Parliament approved Finland's accession protocol after Hungary's approval before it, while Ankara is still asking Sweden for some obligations. to agree to join it as well.
Helsinki celebrated the decision of the Turkish Parliament, and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs later published a message of thanks in Turkish via Twitter after the Turkish Parliament approved the protocol.
The two Scandinavian countries applied last year to join NATO, but they faced unexpected objections from Turkey.
Turkey asked the two countries to cooperate in several files before granting its approval to membership, especially the extradition of wanted persons from the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Fethullah Gulen group, which Ankara accuses of masterminding the 2016 coup attempt.
The atmosphere was particularly tense between Turkey and Sweden after the Swedish authorities allowed the burning of the Holy Qur'an in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. Ankara has recently hinted that it will only accept Finland's accession unless Sweden takes more steps to meet Turkish demands.
Okaz (Brussels) @okaz_online