"As an ally, Finland will contribute to NATO's collective deterrence and defense," the Finnish president said. He promised Finland would be "a reliable ally that strengthens regional stability."
Sweden is now set to join neighbouring Finland as a new Nato member, after Turkey's president withdrew a series of objections. Finland officially joined the Western defensive alliance in April, bringing the number of member states to 31.
Finland became NATO's newest member today (4 April 2023), upon depositing its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty with the United States at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Finland was committing a dangerous historic mistake by joining NATO that would dilute its own influence on the world stage and hurt its ties with Moscow.
Since the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden has not initiated any direct armed conflict, and the country remained neutral even during World War I and World War II. Sweden chose not to join NATO when it was founded in 1949 and declared a security policy aiming for non-alignment in peace and neutrality in war.
Finland was admitted in April, but Sweden's accession has been blocked by Turkey, one of NATO's 31 members, ostensibly because the Nordic country harbours Kurdish separatists. On July 9th President Joe Biden told his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that he hopes to see Sweden join NATO “as soon as possible”.
Norway decided to join the North Atlantic Alliance, which convinced both Iceland and Denmark to follow suit as founding members. Finland had signed a treaty with the Soviet Union and Norway's last fellow Scandinavian country – Sweden – remained neutral throughout the entire period of the Cold War.
With an arsenal of 700 howitzers, 700 heavy mortars and 100 multiple rocket launchers, Finland has the largest artillery capability in western Europe. Homeland defence willingness against a superior enemy is at 83%, one of the highest rates in Europe.
Russia–NATO relations started to substantially deteriorate following the Ukrainian Orange Revolution in 2004–05 and the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. On 1 April 2014, NATO unanimously decided to suspend all practical co-operation as a response to the Russian annexation of Crimea.
Australia is one NATO's partners in the Indo-Pacific region, together with Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand. The Indo-Pacific region is important for the Alliance, given that developments in that region can directly affect Euro-Atlantic security.
Vladimir Putin wanted Russia to join Nato but did not want his country to have to go through the usual application process and stand in line “with a lot of countries that don't matter”, according to a former secretary general of the transatlantic alliance.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Turkey made the historic choice of siding with the free world and the Western Bloc. This policy was led Turkey to become member of NATO on 18 February 1952. Since then, NATO has been the cornerstone of Turkey's defense and security policy.
Japan is one NATO's partners in the Indo-Pacific region, together with Australia, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand. The Indo-Pacific region is important for the Alliance, given that developments in that region can directly affect Euro-Atlantic security.
Turkey has finally approved Finland's application to join NATO, putting an end to months of delays while also continuing to block Sweden from joining the military alliance.
To date, Ireland has not sought to join as a full NATO member due to its traditional policy of military neutrality, although there is an ongoing debate on whether they will join in the future after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Historical neutrality
Neutrality is one of the main principles of Switzerland's foreign policy which dictates that Switzerland is not to be involved in armed or political conflicts between other states. This policy is self-imposed and designed to ensure external security and promote peace.
In 1966, due to souring relations between Washington and Paris because of the refusal to integrate France's nuclear deterrent with other North Atlantic powers, or to accept any collective form of control over its armed forces, French president Charles de Gaulle downgraded France's membership in NATO and withdrew France ...
Russia Once Tried to Join NATO, an Alliance Formed to Counter Threats from Russia. In the wake of the Second World War, 12 countries from Europe and North America banded together to form an alliance that would keep the hard-won peace in Europe, promote cooperation between them and protect their freedoms.
Finland is the newest member; it joined on 4 April 2023, spurred on by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. NATO currently has two candidate countries that are in the process of joining the alliance, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sweden, while Georgia and Ukraine have also formally expressed their desire to join.
Although the ADF's 60,330 full-time active-duty personnel and 29,560 active reservists as of 30 June 2021 make it the largest military in Oceania, it is smaller than most Asian military forces.
Denmark is a Scandinavian country with one of the most powerful military infrastructures in Europe. In 2023, it has a global-firepower-index score of 0.8011.
Current Active Inventory: 139 Aircraft
The following represents an overview of the modern aerial fighting capabilities of the Finnish Air Force (2023).
The main drive behind Denmark's role as a founding member came from the Prime Minister, Hans Hedtoft. A former member of the Danish resistance movement during the Second World War, he was alarmed by the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia and pushed for NATO membership.
Finland's President Sauli Niinistö at the time said his country sought NATO membership because Russia's invasion proved that the Kremlin does not respect officially non-aligned countries. "What we see now, Europe, the world, is more divided," Niinistö told CNN. "There's not very much room for nonaligned in between."
NATO has been in talks with several countries who have expressed desire to join and determined in 2008 that both Ukraine and Georgia would join sometime in the future. Both Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. After accession talks with NATO, Finland was approved to join in April.