Finland joins NATO as 31st member nation

Apr 4, 2023 1:34 PM PDT

2 minute read

SUMMARY

On April 4, 2023, Finland became the newest member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As the 31st nation to…

On April 4, 2023, Finland became the newest member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As the 31st nation to join the military alliance, Finland effectively doubled NATO's land border with Russia. Finland's admission to NATO also coincides with the 74th anniversary of NATO's establishment.

Left to right: Finland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken (NATO)

On July 5, 2022, all NATO Allies signed Finland's Accession Protocol. After that, all 30 national parliaments voted to ratify Finland's membership in the alliance. On April 4, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto deposited his country's instrument of accession with the U.S. government's representative, Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "We welcome Finland to the Alliance!," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at NATO's Headquarters in Brussels.

The NATO flag is flown at the inquantenaire Arch in Brussels (NATO)

The Secretary General made additional remarks highlighting the importance of Finland's entry into NATO. "I am deeply proud to welcome Finland as a full-fledged member of our Alliance and I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as soon as possible," he noted. "Joining NATO is good for Finland, it is good for Nordic security and it is good for NATO as a whole." Stoltenberg was direct in recognizing that Finland joining NATO showed the world that Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to "slam NATO's door shut." "Instead of less NATO, he has achieved the opposite; more NATO and our door remains firmly open," Stoltenberg said.

The Finnish flag is raised outside NATO's Headquarters (NATO)

Afterwards, the Finnish flag was raised outside the headquarters to mark Finland's admission to the alliance. The Finnish national anthem and NATO hymn were played with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen in attendance. In addition to the foreign ministers of all NATO allies, the ceremony was attended by Sweden's foreign minister. Sweden applied for NATO membership at the same time as Finland, on May 18, 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and hopes to be admitted soon.

With Finland's admission to NATO, joint exercises with the US and other Allied nations will become more frequent (U.S. Army)

Simultaneous flag-raising ceremonies occurred at NATO's Allied Command Operations in Mons, Belgium and Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia. "Finland is safer and NATO is stronger with Finland as an Ally. Your forces are substantial and highly capable, your resilience is second to none and for many years troops from Finland and NATO countries have worked side-by-side as partners," Secretary General Stoltenberg said standing alongside President Niinistö. "From today, we stand together as Allies."

Feature Image: Finnish Government