Finland formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday, becoming its 31st member in a historic shift. Finland’s membership became official after a transfer of papers at NATO’s Brussels headquarters. Turkey, the last country to ratify Finland’s membership handed its documents to Blinken, as the United States is the depository of NATO’s 1949 treaty. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg then invited Finland to do the same, concluding the accession process.
After confirming its membership to NATO, Finland’s Parliament reported that its public-facing website had been hit by a denial-of-service attack, but it was not immediately clear who was behind it. NATO, on the other hand, has downplayed the threat of significant Russian retaliation, noting Moscow’s cautious response to Finland’s bid, as well as the fact that its forces are tied up in Ukraine.
Finland and Sweden applied for membership on the same day last spring. Putin’s aggression in Ukraine convinced both countries of the need to abandon their stance of military nonalignment. And they assessed that joining NATO in tandem, as quickly as possible, would be the best way to shield themselves from Russian retaliation.
But membership applications must be approved by all existing NATO countries. And Turkey positioned itself as a spoiler, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan using the process to extract concessions and score domestic political points. Although he ultimately came around on Finland, he has continued to hold out on Sweden, citing Stockholm’s refusal to extradite those he calls “terrorists” affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Hungary is stalling, too. Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for the Hungarian government, laid out a list of grievances last week against Stockholm, accusing its representatives of “using their political influence to harm Hungarian interests” and lambasting the country’s “crumbling throne of moral superiority.” It is not clear whether Hungary has specific demands.
In the years since Finnish soldiers on skis helped fight off Soviet invaders, the country has aligned itself with Europe, joining the European Union and becoming a close NATO partner, while still trying to engage Russia.
Although an election in Finland over the weekend resulted in the ousting of Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the country’s stance on NATO and Ukraine is not expected to change.
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