Finland's President, Sauli Niinisto, announced on Sunday that his country would move forward with its application for NATO membership, a historic move that breaks the nation's decades-long policy of military neutrality.
The official said that the Nordic country's inclusion in the Western military alliance would "maximize" Finland's security after Russia's unprovoked war on Ukraine that began in February. Earlier that day, NATO's deputy secretary-general struck a confident tone on Finland and Sweden.
Finland's Application for NATO Membership
Finland and Sweden were both expected to apply for membership in the alliance due to Moscow's aggressive actions. The situation comes after Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Berlin. The two officials said that more weapons and aid were making their way to Ukraine to support its fight against Russia, as per CNBC.
Finnish President Niinisto also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin responded relatively "calmly" to the news that Finland was joining NATO. During the official's "State of the Union" on Sunday, Niinisto said he had a very good discussion with the Kremlin leader.
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Niinisto noted that Putin was calm and cool and did not repeat the threats he made beforehand that there would be consequences. During a joint news conference on Sunday, the Finnish president said that the announcement made a historic day and marked the beginning of a new era.
According to Fox News, Niinisto made the call to Putin to confirm that the situation has now changed. When he told Putin that Finland was applying for NATO membership, Niinisto reassured the Moscow leader that they were not threatening him or his country. He further noted that so far, it seems that no immediate problems were coming with the announcement of the decision.
Potential Setbacks
However, Niinisto suffered a more disheartening surprise when he found out that Turkey did not fully support Finland and Sweden becoming NATO members. This is especially crucial because the process requires all 30 native members to approve the application for it to move forward.
"I was astonished because I had a telephone discussion with President Erdogan - that is about two months ago. He said they will estimate, well, positively our aim to apply for membership, and now we changed," said Niinisto, who dismissed the concerns and said he was not worried about the potential blocking of the membership.
Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who announced the decision alongside Niinisto, said that they hope the parliament will confirm the decision to apply for NATO membership. This is because the country's parliament must ratify the move before it can formally seek to be a part of the Western military alliance.
Marin noted that the decision was a historic moment for Finland and NATO despite the two being close partners beforehand. The inclusion of the Nordic country in the alliance would bring it up to Finland's 830-mile border with Russia. However, it could take several months for the decision to be finalized as the legislatures of all 30 current NATO members are needed to vote on it, CNN reported.
