Finland to officially join NATO on Tuesday taking its place among the ranks of the world’s biggest security alliance while ending its era of military non-alignment
Finland’s blue and white flag is scheduled to be raised among those of its partners outside NATO’s Brussels headquarters.
The ceremony falls on NATO’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. But Russia's recent military offensive in another neighbour, Ukraine, which began in February 2022, prompted Finns to seek security under the umbrella of NATO's collective defence pact, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.
Neighbouring Sweden also applied, but Türkiye – a NATO member for more than 70 years – says it will not allow Stockholm's membership if it does not address Ankara's legitimate security concerns and fulfill MoU commitments they signed last year.Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia.