Finland's NATO membership triggered by Putin's invasion of Ukraine -
Stoltenberg
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[April 04, 2023]
By Anne Kauranen and Andrew Gray
HELSINKI/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Finland will become a member of NATO on
Tuesday, completing a historic security policy shift which alliance
chief Jens Stoltenberg said was triggered directly by Russian President
Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
"President Putin had as a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to
get less NATO," he told reporters at NATO's Brussels headquarters,
speaking hours before Finland was officially to become a member.
"He is getting exactly the opposite... Finland today, and soon also
Sweden will become a full fledged member of the alliance," Stoltenberg
said.
The Kremlin said that Russia would be forced to take "counter-measures"
to Finland's accession, as Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the move
raised the prospect of the conflict in Ukraine escalating further.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the expansion of NATO - long
criticised in Moscow - was an "encroachment on our security and on
Russia's national interests" and that Moscow would watch closely for any
NATO military deployments in Finland.
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The military alliance will welcome Finland as its 31st member in a
flag-raising ceremony at NATO headquarters on the outskirts of Brussels,
attended by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and government ministers.
The event marks the end of an era of military non-alignment for Finland
that began after the country repelled an invasion attempt by the Soviet
Union during World War Two and opted to try to maintain friendly
relations with neighbouring Russia.
But Russia's invasion of 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.
Sweden underwent a similar transformation in defence thinking and
Stockholm and Helsinki applied together last year to join NATO. But
Sweden's application has been held up by NATO members Turkey and
Hungary.
After both those countries approved Finland's application last week, the
final formal step on Helsinki's journey will come when Foreign Minister
Pekka Haavisto hands his nation's accession document to U.S. government
officials in Brussels.
Finland's flag will then be raised outside NATO headquarters alongside
those of the alliance's 30 other member countries before a gathering of
NATO foreign ministers.
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![](../images/040423PIX/news_z25.jpg)
Finnish and Nato flags flutter at the
courtyard of the Foreign Ministry, ahead of Finland's accession to
NATO, in Helsinki, Finland, April 4, 2023. Lehtikuva/Antti
Hamalainen via REUTERS
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RUSSIAN BORDER
Finland's accession roughly doubles the length of the border that
NATO shares with Russia. Moscow said on Monday it would strengthen
its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions in
response to Finland joining NATO.
Even before Finland formally joined the alliance, its armed forces
have been drawing closer to NATO and its members.
NATO's surveillance flights by the U.S. and other allied air forces
have already began to circulate in Finnish airspace, the Finnish
defence forces said.
On March 24, air force commanders from Sweden, Norway, Finland and
Denmark said they had signed a letter of intent to create a unified
Nordic air defence aimed at countering the rising threat from
Russia.
"We would like to see if we can integrate our airspace surveillance
more, so we can use radar data from each other's surveillance
systems and use them collectively," Major General Jan Dam, commander
of the Danish air force, told Reuters.
Finns said on Monday said they were pleased the NATO membership
process would soon be complete, even if some harboured reservations.
"I feel maybe a little conflicted about joining NATO because I'm not
the biggest fan of NATO but at the same time even less a fan of
Russia," said Henri Laukkanen, a 28-year-old financial assistant.
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Finland and Sweden had said they wanted to join NATO "hand in hand"
to maximise their mutual security but that plan fell apart as Turkey
refused to move ahead with Stockholm's bid.
Turkey says Stockholm harbours members of what Ankara considers
terrorist groups - a charge Sweden denies - and has demanded their
extradition as a step toward ratifying Swedish membership.
Hungary is also holding up Sweden's admission, citing grievances
over criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's democratic record.
But NATO diplomats say they expect Budapest to approve Sweden's bid
if it sees Turkey moving to do so. They hope Turkey will move after
presidential and parliamentary elections in May.
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen and Tom Little in Helsinki and Andrew
Gray in Brussels; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Nick Macfie)
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