{"id":233071,"date":"2023-04-10T12:01:31","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T11:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=233071"},"modified":"2023-04-07T06:24:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T05:24:03","slug":"finland-joins-nato-as-31st-ally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/04\/finland-joins-nato-as-31st-ally\/","title":{"rendered":"Finland Joins NATO as 31st Ally"},"content":{"rendered":"
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4 Apr 2023 – <\/em>Finland became NATO\u2019s newest member today, upon depositing its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty with the United States at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. NATO Allies signed Finland\u2019s Accession Protocol on 5 July 2022, after which all 30 national parliaments voted to ratify the country\u2019s membership.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Flags of Finland and NATO – Dreamstime<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cWe welcome Finland to the Alliance!,\u201d said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, as Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto deposited Finland\u2019s instrument of accession with the government of the United States, represented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Secretary General then welcomed Finnish President Sauli Niinist\u00f6 to NATO Headquarters for a flag-raising ceremony to mark the country\u2019s accession to the Alliance.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of the ceremony, the Secretary General thanked President Niinist\u00f6 for his outstanding leadership and for leading Finland into the most successful Alliance in history. \u201cI am deeply proud to welcome Finland as a full-fledged member of our Alliance and I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as soon as possible,\u201d he said. \u201cJoining NATO is good for Finland, it is good for Nordic security and it is good for NATO as a whole,\u201d he added. The Secretary General also noted that Finland\u2019s accession shows the world that President Putin failed to \u201cslam NATO\u2019s door shut.\u201d \u201cInstead of less NATO, he has achieved the opposite; more NATO and our door remains firmly open,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Finnish national anthem and the NATO hymn were played, as Finland\u2019s flag was raised outside NATO Headquarters for the first time, in the presence of President Niinist\u00f6, Foreign Minister Haavisto, Defence Minister Kaikkonen, the foreign ministers of all NATO Allies and invitee Sweden. Simultaneous flag-raising ceremonies took place at Allied Command Operations (SHAPE) in Mons (Belgium) and Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia (United States).<\/p>\n

Standing alongside President Niinist\u00f6, the Secretary General said: \u201cFinland is safer and NATO is stronger with Finland as an Ally. Your forces are substantial and highly capable, your resilience is second to none and for many years troops from Finland and NATO countries have worked side-by-side as partners. From today, we stand together as Allies.”<\/p>\n

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