Tue 04 Apr 2023:
Tuesday will see Finland become the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which will significantly alter the security situation in northeastern Europe and extend the alliance’s border with Russia by about 1,300 kilometers (830 miles).
The Nordic nation’s accession will be completed during a formal ceremony at NATO headquarters in Brussels later Tuesday.
Finland’s acceptance into the US-led security alliance presents a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long sought to undermine NATO, and before invading Ukraine, demanded the bloc refrain from further expansion.
As a result of the invasion, the non-aligned nations of Finland and Sweden decided to renounce their neutrality and seek protection from NATO, though Sweden’s application for membership has been blocked by NATO allies Turkey and Hungary.
Prior to Tuesday, Russia shared about 1,215 kilometers (755 miles) of land border with five NATO members. Finland’s accession more than doubles NATO’s land border with Russia.
Finland’s NATO membership guarantees the Northern European nation access to the resources of the entire alliance in the event of attack.
It includes the protection offered by NATO’s Article 5 principle, which states that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all members. It’s been a cornerstone of the 30-member alliance since it was founded in 1949 as a counterweight to the Soviet Union.
NATO membership also better integrates Finnish forces in training and planning with NATO allies.
Finland’s accession to NATO increases conflict: Shoigu
Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu says Finland’s accession to the NATO military alliance and its move to increase its combat readiness increased the risk of conflict.
Shoigu also said that some Belarusian military jets could now carry nuclear warheads and that Iskander rocket systems had been transferred to Belarus, which could be used to carry conventional or nuclear missiles.
Meanwhile, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Finland’s accession on Tuesday would be a historical event and that Sweden will soon join them.
“(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin had as a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less NATO,” he told reporters ahead of a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers.
“He is getting exactly the opposite… Finland today, and soon also Sweden will become a full fledged member of the alliance,” he said.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
