Finland: Finland is a new NATO member from Tuesday

Finland

Finland is a new NATO member from Tuesday

Finland will become a new NATO member on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday afternoon.

updated3. April 2023, 13:38

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday afternoon that tomorrow, Tuesday, Finland will officially become the 31st member of NATO.

IMAGO/TT

• Finland will officially become the 31st member of NATO on Tuesday.

• Last week Turkey agreed to join as the last member country.

• However, Turkey continues to block Sweden’s accession.

Finland is to be officially admitted to NATO this Tuesday. The country will be welcomed as the 31st member of the defense alliance at a meeting of foreign ministers and the Finnish flag will be raised at NATO headquarters for the first time, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Monday. It will be a good day for Finnish security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden decided last year to apply for NATO membership after a long period of military freedom from alliances. However, Turkey, which has to agree as one of the current 30 members, initially expressed concerns and thus delayed accession for months. It was not until mid-March that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his previous resistance against Finland’s accession.

Die Blockade against Sweden’s accession Erdogan maintains to this day. Above all, he accuses the country of a lack of action against “terrorist organizations”. Ankara is primarily concerned with the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK. Erdogan initially made similar allegations against Finland.

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(dpa/jar)View Comments