Finland Officially Becomes 31st NATO Member, Russia Warns of Wider Conflict

By Staff, Agencies

Finland has become the 31^st nation to join The North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO], doubling the US-led alliance's border with Russia, which the Kremlin branded as an “assault on our security” and vowed to take countermeasures.

"Not so many years ago we thought it was unthinkable that Finland would become a member. Now they will be a fully-fledged member of our alliance and that is truly historic," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

The move, while being rather symbolic of NATO's expansion and of a united Europe standing together, has the potential of being a turning point in the war as all as for the bloc's future.

It is a moment that most Finns didn’t want for the longest time, but Russia's special military operation in Ukraine last year spurned Finland, as well as neighbor Sweden, to drop decades of non-alignment and seek to join the strategic alliance and harbor NATO's protection. This places Helsinki under the alliance's Article Five defense pledge, saying that an attack on a member nation "shall be considered an attack against them all."

The strategic location of Finland will benefit the entire alliance, as their border runs from the Baltics to the recently contested Arctic. "President Putin went to war against Ukraine with a clear aim to get less NATO," Stoltenberg said.

Russia said Finland's joining won't have an effect on the war, but warned that it is now "keeping an eye on Finland." The addition of a new member was exactly the opposite of what Russia wanted – stopping the expansion of NATO’s border with it – and urged that it was a provocation and that whatever happens next is NATO’s fault.

Helsinki's bid to join NATO was held up by objections from Turkey and Hungary, who are still blocking Sweden's entry into the alliance. Sweden’s process has been stalled due to Ankara's demand for the extradition of dissidents linked to a failed 2016 coup, and a dispute over Stockholm’s response to burnings of the Quran.

Sweden previously expressed concern over the rule of law in Budapest, upsetting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. However, Hungary is expected to approve the bid by the end of their parliament’s session. But, Turkey may only do so after the country's general election, due to a series of disputes between the countries.