NATO gains a new member, Finland, as it celebrates its
\n74th anniversary on 4th April, with the Finnish flag
\nraised alongside those of the other 30 NATO member states in a special ceremony
\nhosted by the NATO headquarters in Brussels. Against the backdrop of Russia’s
\naggression against Ukraine and growing tension in the region, the ratification
\nof Finland’s accession to NATO was the fastest in the Alliance’s modern
\nhistory. <\/p>\n
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This is an historic week: Finland will be safer and
\nNATO will be stronger, said NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on Monday.
\nHe added that Finland’s entry will also make Sweden safer. The two Scandinavian
\ncountries gave up decades of neutrality and asked to join NATO together shortly
\nafter Russia invaded Ukraine, on 24th February last year. Most
\nmember states quickly agreed, with the exception of Hungary and Turkey, who
\ndelayed the enlargement. Sweden is still waiting for Turkey’s approval, due to
\nunresolved issues related to Kurdish militants. Delaying Sweden’s ratification
\ndoes not mean a halt in the technical accession process, said Jens Stoltenberg,
\nadding he was convinced Sweden will soon become a full-fledged member, like
\nFinland. He
\nexplained that Sweden has implemented stronger legislation on the fight against
\nterrorism and that mechanisms are in place to exchange more information. He
\nalso said that Sweden has removed any restrictions on arms exports to Turkey
\nand that Sweden and Turkey are working together to fight terrorism in the East
\nand addressing organised crime on the streets of Sweden. Stoltenberg emphasised
\nthat the postponement of the ratification of Sweden’s accession is not
\nstagnation. With Sweden having been invited to join NATO last year, its
\nintegration process continues, and will continue after ratification, just like
\nin Finland’s case. <\/p>\n
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In response to the NATO enlargement,
\nMoscow says it will beef up its military presence in the region. Russia will
\nconsolidate its military capability in the west and north-west, on the borders
\nwith eastern Europe and Finland, said Russia’s deputy foreign minister
\nAlexander Grushko shortly after Stoltenberg’s announcement in Brussels. He
\nadded that in the event of the deployment of forces and resources of other NATO
\nmember states in Finland, Russia will take additional steps to reliably ensure its
\nmilitary security. (CM)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finland officially joins NATO, renouncing its neutrality in reaction to Russias invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":90867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-95296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n