By Janet ‘Ekstract
İSTANBUL- On Tuesday April 4, Finland officially becomes NATO’s 31st member this historic first for Finland was precipitated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and promises to make Finland much safer and the NATO alliance much stronger. As NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday to the press in Brussels: “From tomorrow (Tuesday), Finland will be a full member of the alliance.” Stoltenberg added that Türkiye will hand its official texts to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday while NATO foreign ministers are gathered in Brussels.
On Tuesday afternoon, a flag-raising ceremony will take place at NATO headquarters to add the Finnish flag alongside those of other member states. As Stoltenberg commented: “It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole.” Stoltenberg added: “Sweden will also be safer as a result.” He also said that he hopes Sweden’s NATO bid will be completed quickly. Initially, Türkiye and Hungary’s opposition to the bids due to Türkiye’s concern with security issues had delayed ratification of the NATO bids. But last Thursday, both Türkiye and Hungary moved to ratify Finland’s NATO bid. It was a unanimous vote in the Turkish Parliament with 276 lawmakers voting in favor of ratifying Finland’s bid to join NATO. Just days later, the Hungarian Parliament also gave Finland the go-ahead on its NATO bid. It’s the fastest procedure for a NATO bid in the alliance’s 74-year history.
