The foreign ministers of the NATO countries met in Brussels in the morning for two-day consultations. Even before the official start of the meeting – to which the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is invited as a guest – Finland’s ceremonial admission to the military alliance is to be held. With the admission of the northern European country, 31 states will belong to the western military alliance.
To symbolize this, the Finnish flag will be hoisted at a ceremony at NATO headquarters in Brussels this afternoon. According to the Finnish Presidential Office, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto will hand over the accession certificate. In addition to the Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, the 30 foreign ministers of the other current member states will take part in the celebration.
Stoltenberg: “Historic Day”
“This really is a historic day,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said repeatedly today. NATO does not want to provoke a conflict, but to prevent it, said the NATO chief before the start of the meeting. He also recalled that the Nordic country’s admission will be completed exactly 74 years after the founding of NATO. He could hardly think of anything better than to celebrate the birthday with Finland’s accession, he said.
Moscow announces “countermeasures”.
Russia announced “countermeasures” to Finland’s admission. The admission was an “attack on our security,” the Kremlin said in Moscow. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, joining NATO increases the risk of a conflict.
At the same time, Shoigu announced that Belarusian fighter jets are now able to transport nuclear warheads. According to Shoigu, missile systems of the Iskander type are now stationed in Belarus and can fire both conventional and nuclear warheads.
In the wake of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Finland, together with its neighbor Sweden, had applied to join NATO. The admission of a new country always has to be approved by all previous member states, which has now happened in the case of Finland. Sweden still faces some hurdles as both Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify accession.
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