Finland to join NATO on Tuesday, military alliance chief says

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has introduced Finland will grow to be the thirty first member of the world’s greatest army alliance on Tuesday, saying he hopes neighbouring Sweden can take part coming months.

The former Norwegian prime minister on Monday mentioned Finland would grow to be a full member of the alliance on Tuesday in what he described as a “historic week”.

“(On Tuesday afternoon) we will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at the NATO headquarters,” he mentioned.

Finland has revamped its army and defence specialists say its membership of NATO will give the alliance a serious enhance. (Heikki Saukkomaa./Lehtikuva through AP, File) (AP)

“It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security, and for NATO as a whole.”

Stoltenberg mentioned that Turkey, the final nation to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand its official texts to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday. Stoltenberg mentioned he would then invite Finland to do the identical.

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen will attend the ceremony, together with Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

“It is a historic moment for us. For Finland, the most important objective at the meeting will be to emphasise NATO’s support to Ukraine as Russia continues its illegal aggression,” Haavisto mentioned in an announcement.

“We seek to promote stability and security throughout the Euro-Atlantic region.”

Fearing that they may be focused after Russia invaded Ukraine a yr in the past, the Nordic neighbours Finland and Sweden deserted their conventional positions of army non-alignment to hunt safety below NATO’s safety umbrella.

All 30 allies signed Finland’s and Sweden’s accession protocols. Turkey and Hungary delayed the method for months however have relented on Finland.