Finland will become NATO’s 31st member on Tuesday

It’s only an hour. Finland became NATO’s 31st member on Tuesday, April 4, its Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday. The Northern European country’s flag will then be raised at Alliance headquarters in Brussels.

“It is truly a historic day”, Jens Stoltenberg was delighted. This is the membership process “high speed” of recent historyNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Integration of Sweden, “priority”

Asked about the fate of Sweden, which Turkey has yet to give the green light, the NATO chief told himself “Absolutely hope“. “For NATO, my priority is to make sure this happens as quickly as possible.”He said during a press conference.

Sweden and Finland are already integrated into NATO with the status of guest countries. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Stockholm and Helsinki decided to turn the page on the military non-alignment policy in place since the 1990s, inherited from decades of enforced or elected neutrality. Both governments applied for NATO membership in May 2022.

In response, Russia announced its intention to strengthen its military capabilities near its border-sharing country, Finland. “If forces and assets of other NATO members are stationed on Finnish territory, we will take additional measures to reliably ensure Russia’s military security”Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Khrushko was quoted as saying by Russian news agency RIA Novosti.