Finland Formally Joins NATO

Facts

• Finland formally joined NATO Tuesday as its flag was hoisted alongside those of the alliance's 30 other members, with the country's accession ending seven decades of military non-alignment as its neighbor Russia remains in conflict with Ukraine.¹
• NATO Sec. General Stoltenberg called the move “historic” as Finland shares an 810-mile border with Russia. Moscow has pledged to bolster its border security as adversarial NATO’s frontier with Russia has doubled.²
• Stoltenberg also criticized Russian Pres. Putin, stating that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has yielded “the exact opposite” of Putin’s goal of a diminished NATO presence.³
• Turkey’s vote paved the way for Finland to join the alliance days after Hungary endorsed Helsinki’s bid. However, both countries have refrained from supporting Sweden’s application, and the Nordic country’s status remains unresolved.⁴
• Sweden’s head of the Foreign Ministry, Tobias Billström, recently said that he's less confident that Sweden would be able to join NATO by July.⁵

Sources: ¹Reuters (a), ²Reuters (b), ³Associated Press, ⁴Euronews and ⁵Reuters (c).

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by Business Insider. Finland’s accession to NATO  is a huge affront to Putin as Moscow’s geopolitical calculations worsen. The Atlantic Alliance has now doubled its border with Russia, despite the Kremlin's previous threats against Nordic countries for attempting to join NATO. Putin's war on Ukraine has brought the exact opposite of what he hoped for.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by RT. While Russia is certainly not thrilled about Finland joining NATO, the Kremlin is not overly concerned. Moscow will do what it must to reinforce its military capabilities on its western and northwestern borders, but Russia does not pose a threat to Finland or Sweden. This is more of a non-event than Western governments would like to convey.

Predictions