‘More united than ever’: NATO welcomes Finland into fold today | CBC News

Finland is joining NATO on Tuesday, becoming the 31st member in the world’s biggest security alliance in a historic realignment brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Finland’s entry, to be marked with a flag-raising ceremony at NATO headquarters, falls on the organization’s very own birthday, the 74th anniversary of the signing of its founding Washington Treaty on April 4, 1949. It also coincides with a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers.

Finland’s president and foreign and defence ministers will take part in the ceremony.

Last week, Turkey became the last NATO member country to ratify Finland’s membership protocol. It will hand over the document officially enshrining that decision to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the ceremony.

Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland applied to join NATO in May, setting aside years of military non-alignment to seek protection under the organization’s security umbrella.

Neighbouring Sweden also applied, but its accession process may take a few months longer. Turkey and Hungary have each raised issues they have with Sweden they would like addressed before ratification could take place.

Canada proud to be 1st to ratify

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly hailed Finland’s entry on Tuesday in a statement.

“Today, as Finland’s flag will fly over NATO headquarters for the first time, we stand more united than ever,” she said. “Canada was proud to be the first country to ratify Finland’s accession, and we worked with Finland and our NATO partners to maintain momentum throughout the ratification process.” 

She went on: “With Finland, and soon to be with Sweden, we are stronger than ever and ready to stand together in the face of some of the most important challenges to our collective security in decades.”

Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, so its entry will more than double the size of NATO’s border with Russia.

The head of NATO said it would not send more troops to the Nordic country unless it asked for help, however.

“There will be no NATO troops in Finland without the consent of Finland,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels a few hours before the country joins.

But he refused to rule out the possibility of holding more military exercises there and said that NATO would not allow Russia’s demands to dictate the organization’s decisions.

“We are constantly assessing our posture, our presence. We have more exercises, we have more presence, also in the Nordic area,” he said.

Russia warns against buildup

The move is a strategic and political blow to Russia President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about NATO’s expansion toward Russia.

“President Putin had as a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less NATO,” Stoltenberg said. “He is getting exactly the opposite.”

Russia has already warned that it would bolster defences along its border with NATO if the alliance deploys any additional troops or equipment to its new member.

“We will strengthen our military potential in the west and in the northwest,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Monday, according to state RIA Novosti news agency. “In case of deployment of forces of other NATO members on the territory of Finland, we will take additional steps to ensure Russia’s military security.”

Finland’s membership becomes official when its own foreign minister hands over documents completing its accession process to Blinken. The U.S. State Department is the repository of NATO texts concerning membership.