British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has hailed Finland’s accession to the NATO military alliance, calling it a “historic day.”
Finland formally joined NATO on Tuesday as Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto completed the accession process by handing over an official document to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Sunak said: “This is an historic day for Finland and for NATO. Their accession has made our alliance stronger and every one of us safer.”
He urged Turkey and Hungary to approve the application from Sweden, which is also keen to join NATO following Russian President Vladmir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“All NATO members now need to take the steps necessary to admit Sweden, too, so we can stand together as one alliance to defend freedom in Europe and across the world,” said the UK prime minister.
‘Bound Tighter Together’
Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who was at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels, said, “Today we see, as a direct result of Vladimir Putin’s aggression and his illegal invasion of Ukraine, the day where a new ally joins our defensive alliance.”He added: “Russia thought its aggression would divide us. Instead, we are bound tighter together, resolute in our defence of the principles of freedom and the rule of law.”
The foreign secretary said NATO welcomes more allies to join and called for Sweden’s “swift accession.”
He said: “Let us be clear that our door remains open. We will welcome further allies with open arms and we continue to push for Sweden’s swift accession.”
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “Let Finland be a lesson to President Putin.
“Finland chose to join, based on their own free will. The freedom to choose their alliances as a sovereign state is a matter for their citizens and their citizens alone.”
Meanwhile the UK announced £10 million ($11.4 million) for NATO’s support package for Ukraine, providing non-lethal aid such as medical equipment, rations, fuel, and counter-drone equipment.
Some £2 million will also go to NATO efforts to help Georgia, Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina defend themselves against Russian activity.
A Stronger NATO
The move by Finland, which shares an approximately 832-mile border with Russia, will bolster NATO’s eastern flank.“We welcome Finland to the alliance,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the end of a brief ceremony on Tuesday. “This will make Finland safer and NATO stronger,” he told reporters, adding that Russia has “a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less NATO along its borders and no more membership in Europe” and the Kremlin is “getting exactly the opposite.”
Finnish President Saul Niinisto said Finland’s most significant contribution to NATO’s common deterrence and defense would be to defend its own territory. There is still significant work to be done to coordinate this with NATO, he said.
“It is a great day for Finland and I want to say that it is an important day for NATO,” Niinisto said at a joint news conference with Stoltenberg.
The Kremlin’s chief spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, warned that Russia will have no choice but to respond to Finland’s accession. Peskov, however, noted that Finland is “fundamentally different” from Ukraine, which was a former Soviet territory, and that “Finland never became anti-Russia.”
“The Kremlin believes that this is another aggravation of the situation,” he told reporters, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. “NATO expansion is an encroachment on our security and the national interests of the Russian Federation.”
Sweden’s Bid
Both Finland and its neighbour Sweden had previously adopted a policy of non-alignment. However, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, both countries sought to join the alliance amid fears of a wider conflict brewing in Europe.But Sweden’s NATO bid remains stuck as top officials in Turkey have accused the Swedish government of harbouring left-wing Kurdish militant groups that it has accused of terrorist acts. Hungary has also signalled opposition to Sweden joining the alliance, citing grievances over criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s record on democracy and rule of law.
On Tuesday morning, the White House released a statement from President Joe Biden, who said that he “look[s] forward to welcoming Sweden as a NATO member as soon as possible, and encourage[s] Turkey and Hungary to conclude their ratification processes without delay.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstroem told reporters it is Stockholm’s ambition to become a member at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July. “This is a question of utmost importance for Sweden … there is no reason for neither the Turkish Parliament or the Hungarian Parliament to make any further delays,” he said.
