Finland is now officially a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member. The move comes after Turkey's unanimous vote, earlier this week. With the addition of Finland, the size of NATO's border with Russia will be more than double. Finland shares an 1,340 kilometer (832 miles) border with Russia.
Congratulatory messages have started pouring in for Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister of Finland.
NATO Assistant Secretary-General for Public Diplomacy, Baiba Braze, welcomed Finland to the alliance.
NATO is yet to make an official announcement on its 31st member. The official website still shows 30 members of the international alliance.
Finland-NATO membership
Finland's NATO membership has been in the talks for several years. While many expressed that the membership would strengthen Finland's defenses, skeptics have warned of potential tensions with Russia.
Speaking on the development, NATO had confirmed that Finland would join the alliance in the coming days.
"Finland will formally join our Alliance in the coming days. Their membership will make Finland safer and NATO stronger. I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as a full member of the NATO family as soon as possible," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier this week.
Earlier this week, Turkey's Parliament officially approved Finland's bid to become the 31st member of the NATO. There were 276 votes in favour on Thursday for the Nordic nation to become a part of the military alliance, reports Turkey's state-run Anadolu News Agency.
Abandoning decades of military non-alignment after the launch of Russia's war on Ukraine last February, Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in May. But Turkey, a NATO member for over 70 years, asked the two Nordic countries to take concrete action against terrorist groups like the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in order for it to join the alliance.
In June, Finland and Sweden signed a memorandum with Turkey to address Ankara's security concerns, and senior diplomats and officials from the three countries have held various meetings since then to discuss implementation of the trilateral agreement.
What NATO membership means?
NATO maintains that its membership is open to "any other European state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area." NATO's purpose is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.
On the political front, NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
Furthermore, NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations. These are carried out under the collective defence clause of NATO's founding treaty - Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organisations.
