Finland becomes NATO member

Finland has become a Member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on Tuesday.

The membership came into effect when Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto deposited Finland's instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty in Brussels with the US State Department.

“This is a historic day for Finland. I want to thank all NATO Allies for your great support throughout Finland’s NATO accession process. We are now one of the NATO countries, happy to be with you,” the Ministry for Foreign Affairs wrote in a twitter post, quoting Haavisto as saying after the joining.

Earlier in the morning, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that as NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels today (Tuesday)), Finland will become the 31st member of the Alliance.

“On this very day, in 1949, the Washington Treaty, NATO’s founding treaty, was signed in Washington and it is hard to imagine a better way of celebrating our anniversary than to have Finland becoming a full member of the Alliance,” said Stoltenberg.

President Sauli Niinistö who was present at NATO Headquarters on the occasion and Prime Minister Sanna Marin expressed satisfaction over the NATO membership of Finland.

In a statement, the President said that membership of the Alliance provides security for Finland. Finland, on the other hand, provides security for the Alliance. Finland, committed to the security of all NATO member states, will be a reliable ally that strengthens regional stability.

“Finland has today become a member of the defence alliance NATO. The era of military non-alignment in our history has come to an end. A new era begins……Finland’s membership is not targeted against anyone. Nor does it change the foundations or objectives of Finland’s foreign and security policy,” said Niinistö in a statement, issued by the President Office after the joining.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin thanked all the NATO members for their cooperation during the Finland´s accession process.

“Finland is entering a new era as a member of NATO. I am proud of Finland and the Finnish people. As a nation, we have been united throughout this historic process. Thank you to our Allies for your trust. Together we will be even stronger,” the Prime Minister wrote in a twitter post.

Earlier on Monday, the government announced that Finland would become a Member of NATO on Tuesday.

The ratification process for Finland´s NATO membership was completed on March 30 after Turkish parliament ratified the membership protocol for Finland.

Although 28 NATO member countries ratified the membership protocols for Finland and Sweden within few months of the applications submitted by the two Nordic countries on May 18, 2022, Turkey and Hungary were the last two countries who ratified Finland´s accession excluding Sweden.

The Hungarian parliament ratified the NATO membership protocol for Finland on March 27 while Turkey ratified on March 30.

Turkey, which had been threatening to block the memberships of Finland and Sweden from the very beginning of submitting applications accusing the Nordic countries of harboring of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Syria's Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

Turkey also demanded that the military and industrial sanctions on Turkey should be lifted and not be put back into effect after the accession.

In late June, 2022, the Foreign Ministers of Finland, Sweden and Turkey signed a trilateral memorandum which confirmed that Turkey will support the Finland´s and Sweden´s NATO membership applications.

Although Finland, Sweden and Turkey held several trilateral meetings, Turkey remained negative regarding Swedish membership and finally agreed to support Finland´s membership.

On July 5, the ambassadors of the 30 NATO states signed the accession protocols at the organization's headquarters in Brussels, with the foreign ministers of the two Nordic countries in attendance.