Finland set to join NATO; blue and white flag to be hoisted in NATO’s headquarters

Finland’s blue and white flag is scheduled to be raised among those of its partners outside NATO’s Brussels headquarters. Finland’s president, foreign and defense ministers will take part.

The ceremony falls on NATO’s very own birthday, the 74th anniversary of the signing of its founding Washington Treaty on April 4, 1949. It also coincides with a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers.

Turkey became the last NATO member country to ratify Finland’s membership protocol on Thursday. It will hand over the document officially enshrining that decision to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the ceremony. Finland will then give Blinken its own final texts, officialising its membership.

❝Finland will formally join our Alliance in the coming days. Their membership will make Finland safer and NATO stronger. I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as a full member of the NATO family as soon as possible.❞

— Secretary General @jensstoltenberg pic.twitter.com/XOXS2TTRYx

— NATO (@NATO) March 31, 2023

Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, setting aside years of military nonalignment to seek protection under the organization’s security umbrella. Neighbouring Sweden also applied, but its accession process may take a few months longer.

Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia, so its entry will more than double the size of NATO’s border with Russia.

The move is a strategic and political blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about NATO’s expansion toward Russia.