Finland to join NATO on Tuesday, Sweden still waiting
Finland will join NATO on Tuesday, marking the completion of a swift journey into the military alliance for the Nordic nation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said.
Finland has a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia, meaning NATO’s frontier with Russia will roughly double in length, and the move drew a pledge from Moscow that it will beef up its forces in border regions.
“Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member of NATO making Finland safer and our alliance stronger,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels, hailing the move as “historic”.
“We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole,” Stoltenberg said. [Continue reading…]