Finland Officially Joins NATO
Summary from AllSides News Team
Finland formally became NATO’s 31st member on Tuesday, joining the defense alliance after decades of neutrality and prompting warnings of “countermeasures” from Russia.
Key Quotes: European leaders welcomed Finland’s addition, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that while “President Putin went to war against Ukraine with a declared aim to get less NATO,” he ended up “getting the exact opposite.” U.S. President Joe Biden praised the move, saying NATO was “more united than ever.” Meanwhile, a Kremlin spokesperson called Finland’s addition an “escalation,” adding, “Naturally, this forces us to take countermeasures to ensure our own tactical and strategic security.”
For Context: Finland’s addition doubles the land border between NATO allies and Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine sparked wider regional security concerns. Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022, but objections from Turkey and Hungary delayed the process. Turkey finally approved Finland’s membership on March 30, but neither holdout has yet approved Sweden’s application. The U.S. Congress approved both countries’ membership in August in overwhelmingly bipartisan votes.
How the Media Covered It: Coverage was widespread across the spectrum Tuesday morning. Coverage was generally similar in major outlets regardless of bias rating, with headlines focusing on the land border expansion or the “setback” for Russia.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Finland joins NATO, doubling military alliance’s border with Russia in a blow for Putin
Finland officially became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday, marking a major shift in the security landscape in northeastern Europe that adds some 1,300 kilometers (830 miles) to the alliance’s frontier with Russia.
The Nordic nation’s accession was sealed during a formal ceremony at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg were on hand as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pekka Haavisto, established Finland’s accession.
From the Center
Finland officially becomes a NATO member
Finland became the 31st member of the NATO military alliance on Tuesday amid warnings of "countermeasures" from the Kremlin.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year prompted Finland — which has a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia — and its neighbor Sweden to drop decades of military non-alignment.
From the Right
Finland joins NATO in major setback to Russia
Finland joined NATO to become the alliance's 31st member on Tuesday, issuing a major rebuke to Moscow and doubling the border length Russia shares with the military alliance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine spurned Finland to join the military alliance last year. Both Finland and Sweden filed to join NATO, though Sweden's process is still ongoing. NATO officials will raise Finland's flag between the French and Estonian flags in a ceremony later Tuesday.
NATO has said that it has no immediate intention to step up a military presence in Finland....
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