(Reuters) Finland will become the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday (4), and its flag will be raised at the bloc’s headquarters in Brussels – the military alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday (3).
“Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will welcome Finland as the 31st member,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference on the eve of a ministerial meeting that will mark the Nordic country’s entry into the transatlantic alliance.
Finland’s accession process,” the Norwegian official stressed, “has been the fastest in modern NATO history,” and its completion tomorrow “will make Finland safer, and NATO stronger.
With Finland’s membership in NATO, the organization’s secretary-general pointed out, the military alliance’s border with Russia “doubles.”
On Tuesday, Finland’s representative is expected to formally hand over the membership documents to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose office is the guardian of the military alliance’s founding treaty.
Last year, in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO formally invited Finland and Sweden to join the transatlantic alliance. The Swedish application is still vetoed by Turkey, although the position is being fought over in intense negotiations.
On Monday, the huge platform where the flags of the 30 member countries of the alliance are flown was already displaying the flagpole that will bear Finland’s flag at Tuesday’s ceremony.
In his press conference, Stoltenberg said that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine “with the clear objective of having less NATO. But he will get exactly the opposite in return.”
Finland’s accession date “is really a historic day, a great day for the alliance,” Stoltenberg said.
Sweden, however, will have to wait for its opportunity to formally join the powerful North Atlantic military alliance.
Turkey resists approving Sweden’s membership because Sweden gives refuge to Kurdish leaders and those suspected of participating in the foiled 2016 coup.
“I have full confidence that Sweden will be a full member (of NATO). It is a priority for NATO to ensure that this happens as soon as possible,” Stoltenberg said.