Finland officially joined NATO as the 31st member

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Finland officially joined NATO as the 31st member.

Finland officially joined NATO as the 31st member

The world turned its eyes to the historical summit in Brussels. Türkiye handed over the document confirming Finland's NATO membership to the US, the custodian of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty. Finland thus became the 31st country to join NATO.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Finland's NATO membership as "a historic day".

SWEDEN MESSAGE FROM STOLTENBERG

"We both met with President Erdogan many times. We agreed on the three-way mechanism for Sweden's membership process. After that, we need to keep moving forward. Sweden's membership process continues. Sweden's promises are also given. He has to keep it," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"We hope Sweden will join as soon as possible," Stoltenberg said.

LASTED LESS THAN A YEAR

Immediately after the Madrid Summit held in June 2022, most of the NATO countries started the approval process for Finland and Sweden's membership. 20 NATO countries completed the ratification process in their parliaments in July, 4 in August, and 4 in September.

Finally, on 27 March, the Hungarian Parliament approved Finland's membership. The approval in the Turkish Grand National Assembly was also obtained on 30 March. Thus, Finland's NATO membership process was completed in less than a year, making it one of the fastest progressing membership processes in the Alliance's 74-year history.

RESPONSE FROM RUSSIA

Emphasizing that Russia will take various steps regarding Finland's NATO membership, Peskov said, "We will take countermeasures to ensure our own security in tactical and strategic terms. These measures will be taken as we see fit."

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