Finland will officially become a member of Nato on Tuesday, the military bloc’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has confirmed.
The move brings to an end decades of Finnish neutrality over Nato, and has been driven by concern over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland has an 832-mile border with Russia.
“This is an historic week,” Mr Stoltenberg told reporters on the eve of a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels. “From tomorrow, Finland will be a full member of the alliance.”
“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,” he added.
He said that he hopes neighbouring country Sweden will be able to join Nato in coming months.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen will attend the ceremony on Tuesday, along with Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
“It is a historic moment for us. For Finland, the most important objective at the meeting will be to emphasize NATO’s support to Ukraine as Russia continues its illegal aggression,” Haavisto said in a statement. “We seek to promote stability and security throughout the Euro-Atlantic region.”
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that Moscow would respond to Finland becoming Nato’s 31st member by bolstering its defenses if needed.
“We will strengthen our military potential in the west and in the northwest,” Grushko said in remarks carried by the state RIA Novosti news agency. “In case of deployment of forces of other NATO members on the territory of Finland, we will take addition steps to ensure Russia’s military security.”
Finland is set to become the seventh Nato country on the Baltic Sea, further isolating Russia’s coastal access at St Petersburg and in its small exclave of Kaliningrad.
Finnish accession means it will come under the organisation’s mutual defence umbrella, which treats an attack on any individual member country as an attack on Nato requiring a collective response.
Finland’s membership represents the first enlargement since North Macedonia joined the alliance in 2020.
Turkey had initially delayed Finland’s bid to join the western defence alliance over concerns about the country’s support for Kurdish groups and about arms exports.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, said last month that Finland had satisfied Ankara’s objections after taking steps to crack down on groups seen by Ankara as “terrorists” and to free up defence exports.
Turkish officials said Finland had fulfilled its obligations under a memorandum signed last year, in which the two countries pledged to address Turkey’s security concerns.
Sweden, however, which applied to join Nato at the same time last May, is still being blocked by Ankara over similar complaints.
