Finland joins NATO

On Tuesday, Finland became the 31st member of NATO, doubling Russia’s border length with the military alliance and delivering a significant rebuke to Moscow. The decision to join NATO was prompted by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which spurred both Finland and Sweden to file applications to join the alliance. While Sweden’s application is still ongoing, NATO officials will hold a ceremony later on Tuesday to raise Finland’s flag between the French and Estonian flags.

Although some NATO members have deployed troops to Finland for war games in the past year, the alliance has stated that it has no immediate plans to increase its military presence there. Finland, like all NATO members, will benefit from the collective security guarantee of Article 5, which means that an attack against one member will be considered an attack against them all.

However, Moscow has already warned that it will deploy troops on its side of the border with Finland if NATO expands its presence in the new member country. Turkey was the sole country to oppose Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, citing their support for certain Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey opposes.

Finnish and Swedish leaders negotiated with Turkish President Recep Erdogan for months to gain approval for Finland’s entry, which Erdogan will formally approve on Tuesday, sharing the approval papers with Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Sweden is expected to be the next country to join the alliance, but it still faces opposition from Erdogan. While the two countries had hoped to join NATO together, Swedish officials have acknowledged that their entry may be delayed.