Finland formally became a member of NATO on April 4 during a scheduled summit, finalising the fastest accession process in the treaty\u2019s history.
Last week, the blue-and-white flag of Finland was raised alongside those of its western partners outside NATO\u2019s headquarters in Brussels after the Nordic country formally became the 31st member of the transatlantic defensive alliance.
Guests at the ceremony, including the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the Finnish President, Foreign and Defence Ministers applauded and shouted \u201cbravo\u201d at the ceremony, which marked a historic realignment of Europe\u2019s security landscape.
US President Joe Biden warmly welcomed the completion of Finland\u2019s accelerated accession process, saying NATO had shown itself more united than ever after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.
The two Nordic countries, Finland and Sweden\u2019s inclusion in NATO was being watched as the war of nerves between the West, represented by the US and its allies and the Communist-Socialist bloc led by Russia.
Though initially Russia showed less apprehension about the inclusion of these two Scandinavian countries in NATO, however, after Finland becoming the latest member to join the alliance, Kremlin\u2019s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that NATO\u2019s embrace of Finland was an \u201cencroachment on our security and on Russia\u2019s national interests\u201d, adding that Moscow would watch closely for any NATO military deployments there.
The Ministry added that the development marked \u201ca fundamental change in the situation in northern Europe, which had previously been one of the most stable regions in the world\u201d. Russia said on Monday it would bolster its military capacity in its western and north-western regions in response to Finland\u2019s accession.
Sweden and Finland together share a 1,340 km-long border with Russia, and both submitted simultaneous membership applications last May, abandoning decades of military non-alignment to seek security as NATO members after the Russian invasion.
The Guardian has commented that joining NATO means Finland falls under the alliance\u2019s Article 5, a collective defence pledge that stipulates that an attack on one NATO member \u201cshall be considered an attack against them all\u201d.
Finland is one of the few European countries to have retained a conscription army through decades of peace, wary of its eastern neighbour Russia after the former Soviet Union tried to invade the country during WW II. Finland\u2019s ground, naval and air forces are all trained and equipped with one primary aim – to repel any Russian invasion.
Finland has what it calls \u201cWestern Europe\u2019s strongest artillery\u201d that includes some 1,500 weapons: about 700 howitzers and cannon, 700 mortars and about 100 heavy and light rocket launchers.
By joining the NATO now it can purchase more arms from diverse sources such as Israel.
NATO has an open-door policy, meaning that any country can be invited to join if it expresses an interest, as long as it is able and willing to uphold the principles of the bloc\u2019s founding treaty. However, under the accession rules, any member state can veto a new country from joining.
Turkey and Hungary, presumably at the behest of Russia tried to stall this process for the last one year.
Turkish President Recep TayyipErdogan accuses Finland and Sweden of housing Kurdish \u201cterrorist organisations\u201d, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed they were spreading \u201coutright lies\u201d about his country\u2019s rule of law record.
However, there was a limit to which both could stall the process and with many behind the scenes manipulations at last they bowed down to the NATO\u2019s pressure.
Turkey and Hungary later softened their stance on Finland\u2019s accession, opening the door to its membership earlier this month. However, they remain opposed to Sweden joining — at least for now. Ankara accuses Stockholm of sheltering Kurdish militants, while Budapest has \u201cgrievances\u201d about Swedish criticism of the rule of law in Hungary.
Finland joining NATO marks one of the most significant geopolitical consequences of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine to date and represents a dramatic realignment of Europe\u2019s security framework. The Nordic country moved to join NATO alongside Sweden as a direct response to Russia\u2019s assault on Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has repeatedly blamed NATO expansion, among other grievances, for what in reality was an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Despite Russia\u2019s complaints, Ukraine was not on the formal path to join NATO at the time, and there wasn\u2019t a big push among the alliance\u2019s members to expand. But now, as a result of invading Ukraine, Russia has seen its land border with NATO double in size.
Last week, ministers formally convened in a NATO-Ukraine Commission format – a symbolic move acknowledging Kiev\u2019s aspirations for a closer relationship. Hungary, which has long blocked the body from meeting, grudgingly attended the session but vowed to continue opposing Ukrainian integration.
NATO pledged in 2008 that Ukraine would eventually join the alliance, but the process stalled. In the current situation, numerous Western capitals argue that the priority now is helping Ukraine win the war — and that discussion of NATO\u2019s political relationship with Kiev should wait. But we cannot discount Ukraine too joining NATO sooner or later.
If and when that happens, that would strategically translate into Russia spreading thin its military resources, which have already taken a strong beating in the on-going Ukraine war. This may add to Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s headaches, but we also cannot discount its close ties with China and say that Russia has been pushed into a corner.
In case of any direct confrontation with NATO, Russia can always be sure of support from China, and if it really happens that it may not augur well for the global peace.
However, in the whole membership fracas, Russia seems to be the ultimate loser, as now it borders shared with NATO member or aspiring member countries have doubled in two different directions.
Finland\u2019s inclusion in NATO indeed means a historic realignment of Europe\u2019s security landscape.
Asad Mirza
The writer is a senior
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