Finland has officially become the 31st member of the North Atlantic Alliance. The accession document was handed over to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
– It gives me great pleasure to hand over to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken the document of Finland’s accession to NATO, the head of Finnish diplomacy said.
– Having received the accession document, we can announce that Finland has become the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Antony Blinken stated.
Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022. Neighboring Sweden has also applied, but its accession process is still ongoing. Both countries made these decisions in the wake of the Russian assault on Ukraine.
Objections to the accession of Finland and Sweden to the Alliance were raised for months by Turkey. Ankara accused these countries of, among other things, providing support to Kurdish organizations that Turks consider terrorist. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government continues to block Sweden’s accession.
Last Thursday, Turkey’s parliament ratified Finland’s application to join NATO. It was the last country in the Alliance to agree to allow Finland to join. However, Turkey, like Hungary, still has not ratified Sweden’s application.
