The Finnish flag has flown between the Estonian and French flags since Tuesday at the NATO headquarters in Evere, a district northeast of Brussels.
The Atlantic Alliance thus assumes
its Member State 31
, which requested membership, together with Sweden, after Russia attacked Ukraine.
The Swedes will have to wait for Turkey to lift its veto, probably after the Turkish elections in May.
Finland's entry is proof of the
strategic mistake
Moscow made in attacking Ukraine.
If one of the official objectives of the war was preventing the country from joining NATO so as not to have any more direct borders with the Atlantic Alliance, the entry of this new State means that Russia and NATO will go from having 1,205 kilometers of direct border to have almost 2,600 kilometers.
On Monday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway announced: "Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member" and addressed Russia's leader Vladimir Putin: "President Putin entered the war with the official goal of have less NATO and you get the exact opposite.”
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö thanked the other 30 member states and assured that "Finland will be a strong and capable ally, committed to the security of the Alliance."
NATO officials, this Tuesday, during a ceremony for Finland's entry into the alliance, at its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Photo: AP
The threat from Russia
Russia announced Monday that it will reinforce that flank.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grouchko said that the Russian Armed Forces
will move more capabilities to its western and northwestern regions
.
According to a cable from the Ria Novosti agency, Grouchko said: "In the event of the deployment of forces and other means of other NATO members on Finnish territory, we will take additional measures for Russia's military security."
Finland's accession to NATO is
a 180-degree turn in its Defense and Security policy
.
The country, which resisted the Soviet Union militarily in the 1930s although it had to cede its Karelia region, was forced by the great powers to remain neutral throughout the Cold War.
Moscow did not attack Finland in exchange for it not entering Western structures: NATO and what was then called the European Economic Community.
The Western powers accepted this gentlemen's agreement, which was made without the Finns being able to decide on their own.
That neutrality was not voluntary but a way to avoid being a Soviet military objective.
The end of the Cold War led Finland to join the European Union in 1994 but stayed away from NATO.
The parties of the right were in favor and those of the left were against, while the population was divided.
The Russian attack against Ukraine made the vast majority of the parliamentary arch and the vast majority of the population change their minds and welcome the entry into the Atlantic Alliance.
A socialist prime minister, Sanna Marin, has been responsible for walking the path of accession, which has lasted less than a year, from last May to this Tuesday.
What changes in the Atlantic Alliance
Finland's accession strengthens NATO in various military aspects
.
The Atlantic Alliance is gaining a presence in the Baltic, a sea that little by little, except for the small outlet in Saint Petersburg, is becoming NATO's inland sea.
It also gains strategic depth.
The high command have never officially recognized it but feared that they would not be able to defend the Baltic republics in case of attack.
There are no large foreign military contingents on its territory and its Armed Forces are very small.
Finland provides a very useful external platform
in a case of aggression against those three countries.
The new member of the Alliance does not arrive empty-handed and as its Foreign Minister Tytti Tuppurainen said last year, the country intends to be "a resource, not a burden."
With just 5.5 million people and 12,000 professional soldiers, it has 870,000 people in reserve who have received military training and can immediately mobilize 280,000.
Its artillery capacity,
necessary to defend a land border with Russia that exceeds 1,000 kilometers,
is one of the largest in Europe.
Its Navy is specialized in operating in the Baltic and the Arctic and has a very powerful Air Force for the size and economy of the country.
In December 2021, it ordered 64 F-35 fighter jets from the United States to reinforce and modernize its Air Force.
The country is already spending 2.5% of GDP on Defense this year, as required by NATO.
The Finnish military has been participating in NATO missions and military exercises for years.
They regularly attend meetings with their counterparts from Member States, and their Armed Forces are fully compatible in material and ammunition with the other Member States of the Atlantic Alliance.
Brussels, special
BC
look also
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