Finland Joins NATO

After Turkey agreed that Finland should join NATO, this will happen officially today. Secretary General Stoltenberg has made that known. Russia announced it would strengthen its army in the west.

Finland will be officially joined in NATO today (04.04). Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday that “from tomorrow Finland will be full NATO member”. Turkey, which was the last member state to ratify Finland's membership, will hand over documents for this to a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels. Finland is invited to do the same.

The 31st military alliance member flag will be raised before headquarters in the afternoon. It will be a good day for Finnish security, Nordic security and for NATO as a whole, Stoltenberg said.

“Historical”

Finnish President Saul Niinistö and Defence Minister Antti Kakkonen are expected to attend the ceremony, along with Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

This is a historic moment for us. For Finland, the main goal of the meeting will be to underline NATO's support for Ukraine, while Russia continues its illegal aggression,” said Haavisto in a statement. “We want to promote stability and security throughout the Euro-Atlantic region”.

Russia reinforces military

Russia reacted to this announcement. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grusko announced the reinforcement of Russian military capabilities in the country's western and northwestern regions. This is Russia's response to Finland's expected NATO membership, Grusko says, according to a state news agency RIA tip.

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership following the Russian attack in Ukraine and aimed at this happening at the same time. But membership of a new member must be approved by all 30 current NATO member states. Turkey and Hungary initially decided to ratify Finland's membership. Last week, the parliaments of these two countries ratified Finland's membership. / DW