North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that Finland will become a full member of NATO on April 4. His remarks came after the Turkish Parliament approved Finland’s NATO membership application on March 30.
Stoltenberg stated at a press conference on Monday, “This week is historic. Tomorrow, Finland will become NATO’s thirty-first member. Increasing the safety of Finland and the strength of our Alliance.”
This is a historic week. Tomorrow we will welcome #Finland ЁЯЗлЁЯЗо as the 31st member of #NATOmaking Finland safer & NATO stronger. pic.twitter.com/DEt2w9clUj
тАФ Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) April 3, 2023
He went on to say, “Here at Nato headquarters, we will raise the Finnish flag for the first time. It will be a good day for Finnish security, Nordic security, and NATO overall. Nordic security, and NATO overall” according to a statement posted on the NATO website. “Sweden will also be safer as a result,” he added.
Jens Stoltenberg stated that the allies decided in 2022 to invite Finland and Sweden to join NATO and that Finland’s accession was the fastest ratification process in NATO’s modern history.
He stated that the NATO-Ukraine Commission will meet tomorrow with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv as well as the military alliance’s support for Ukraine. Stoltenberg said he supports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace plan, which adheres to the principles enshrined in the UN Charter.
Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Turkey’s decision to ratify Finland’s NATO membership on Friday. According to him, Finland’s accession would make the country “safer” and NATO “stronger.”
Stoltenberg said: “I welcome the Turkish Grand National Assembly’s decision to ratify Finland’s NATO membership. The protocol has now been ratified by all 30 NATO allies. And I just spoke with President Sauli Niinisto to express my congratulations on this historic occasion.”
According to CNN, the Turkish Parliament voted unanimously in favor of Finland’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Thursday, while continuing to oppose Sweden’s membership in the military alliance.
Finland and Sweden submitted NATO membership applications in 2022. Except for Turkey and Hungary, the majority of NATO members supported Finland and Sweden’s applications.