“NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security. As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance,” Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in their statement.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meets with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Helsinki last year. Finland’s top leaders said Thursday that their country should seek to join NATO as soon as possible — an extraordinary move that demonstrates the far-ranging effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in athat comes after weeks of discussions about whether the traditionally nonaligned nation should join the defense alliance and a day after Helsinki signed a mutual security agreement with London. A green light from Finland’s leaders is the first step toward a formal application, with the proposal also requiring approval from the country’s Parliament.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited NATO expansionism as a reason for his invasion of Ukraine. Finland’s accession to the alliance would double its land border with Russia.Following Finland’s announcement, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a former Russian president, said that NATO’s support of Ukraine and the conduct of military exercises in countries bordering Russia “increase the likelihood of a direct and open conflict between NATO and Russia.
In the capitals of the European Union and other NATO countries, the Finnish leaders’ statement was greeted with expressions of support and promises to keep Finland’s application process as short as possible.“NATO is about to get stronger,” while the Baltic region is “about to get safer.”her country “will of course warmly welcome Finland to NATO” and “do everything for a quick accession process after the formal application.
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