When Finland becomes the Western alliance’s newest member on Tuesday, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the country’s flag will be flown in front of NATO headquarters.
On the eve of a historic NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Stoltenberg told reporters, “Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member.”
Finland and its neighbor Sweden were forced to abandon decades of non-alignment and seek to join NATO’s protective umbrella as a result of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine last year.
Complaints from Turkey and Hungary held up Helsinki’s offered for a really long time, and are as yet obstructing Stockholm, before the parliament in Ankara addressed the last roadblock for Finland with a vote a week ago.
This is still the quickest membership process in the alliance’s recent history, with the ratification completed in significantly less than a year.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, the final highly choreographed formalities are all that remain.
The official documents of Finland’s accession will be presented by the country’s foreign minister to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in charge of protecting NATO’s founding treaty.
Additionally, the country’s blue-and-white flag will be waved alongside those of its new allies.
According to Helsinki, Sauli Niinisto, President of Finland, will address the gathering.
“President Putin did battle against Ukraine with an unmistakable expect to get less NATO,” Stoltenberg said.
“He’s getting the complete opposite,” he said.