NATO welcomes Finland, today the entry of the 31st country into the Atlantic Alliance was made official . All that was missing was the ratification of Turkey, which has arrived and from today Helsinki officially becomes part of NATO.
Request that the government of Sanna Marin had made after the Ukrainian invasion of the Russians, between Finland and Russia there is a border 1,340 kilometers long.
Moscow is in a rage: " The Finnish entry into NATO forces us to adopt countermeasures to guarantee Russia's security ," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov . “It represents – he added – a new escalation that poses a threat to our security. We will closely monitor the movements of weapons and military infrastructure on Finnish territory and will announce our response in due course .'
On the other hand , NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg speaks of a "historic day": "This will make Finland safer and NATO stronger. Just look at the map to understand how strategic and important Finland is for the security of the Baltic region. From today, NATO's article 5, which ensures the defense of each ally in the event of an attack by another state, will also be applied to Helsinki . The new entry demonstrates that Finland is a sovereign and independent country and that NATO is an alliance of democracies».
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also speaks of an "historic moment": "We are thrilled to have Finland as the 31st member of NATO. This is probably something we can thank Putin for because he once again precipitated something he claims he wants to prevent with the invasion of Ukraine leading many countries to believe they need to do more for their own defense and to make sure they be able to deter possible aggression by Russia in the future ".
(Unioneonline/L)