Finland joined the NATO military alliance on Tuesday, dealing a major blow to Russia with a historic realignment of the continent triggered by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, so its entry more than doubles the size of NATO's border with Russia. The nation adopted neutrality after its defeat by the Soviets in the Second World War, but its leaders signalled they wanted to join the alliance just months after Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine raised alarms.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accepted the documents in Brussels that made Finland's membership official. The U.S. State Department is the repository of NATO texts concerning membership.
"The era of nonalignment in our history has come to an end — a new era begins," Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said before his country's blue-and-white flag was raised outside NATO headquarters. A short distance away, outside the security fence, a few dozen people wrapped in flags of their own chanted, "Ukraine needs NATO."
U.S. President Joe Biden noted the development comes on the 74th anniversary of the signing of NATO's founding treaty on April 4, 1949.
"When Putin launched his brutal war of aggression against the people of Ukraine, he thought he could divide Europe and NATO. He was wrong," Biden said in a statement. "Today, we are more united than ever.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron were among the other world leaders releasing statements welcoming Finland to the alliance.
Finnish president, Canada push for Sweden to follow
The head of NATO said it would not send more troops to the Nordic country unless it asked for help.
"There will be no NATO troops in Finland without the consent of Finland," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels a few hours before the country joined.
But he refused to rule out the possibility of holding more military exercises there and said that NATO would not allow Russia's demands to dictate the organization's decisions.
"We are constantly assessing our posture, our presence. We have more exercises, we have more presence, also in the Nordic area," he said.
Last week, Turkey became the last NATO member country to ratify Finland's membership protocol.
Neighbouring Sweden has also applied to join the alliance, but its accession process may take a few months longer. Turkey and Hungary have each raised issues they have with Sweden they would like addressed before ratification could take place.
"Finland's membership is not complete without Swedish membership. The work for Sweden's early membership continues relentlessly," Niinisto said in an earlier statement.
Meanwhile, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly hailed Finland's entry on Tuesday in a statement.
"Today, as Finland's flag will fly over NATO headquarters for the first time, we stand more united than ever," she said. "Canada was proud to be the first country to ratify Finland's accession, and we worked with Finland and our NATO partners to maintain momentum throughout the ratification process."
She went on: "With Finland, and soon to be with Sweden, we are stronger than ever and ready to stand together in the face of some of the most important challenges to our collective security in decades."
Russia warns against buildup
The move is a strategic and political blow to Russia President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about NATO's expansion toward Russia.
"President Putin had as a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less NATO," Stoltenberg said. "He is getting exactly the opposite."
Russia has already warned that it would bolster defences along its border with NATO if the alliance deploys any additional troops or equipment to its new member.
"We will strengthen our military potential in the west and in the northwest," Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Monday, according to state RIA Novosti news agency. "In case of deployment of forces of other NATO members on the territory of Finland, we will take additional steps to ensure Russia's military security."
Finnish government website hit with cyberattack
Finland's parliamentary website was paralyzed by a denial-of-service attack on Tuesday, just before the country made its historic entry into NATO.
The attacks — in which participants flood targets with junk data — made the parliament's site hard to use, with many pages not loading and some functions not available for a time.
A pro-Russian hacker group known as NoName057(16) claimed responsibility, saying the attack was retaliation for Finland joining NATO. The hacker group, which has reportedly acted on Moscow's orders, has taken part in a slew of cyberattacks on the U.S. and its allies in the past. The claim could not be immediately verified.
For the most part, Finns went about their business as usual on the bright cold day, belying the historic nature of Finland becoming the 31st member of NATO.
<a href="https://t.co/ajyjRf3iYk">pic.twitter.com/ajyjRf3iYk</a>
—@niinisto
There were few outward signs of the geopolitical shift aside from the Finnish and NATO flags, both blue and white, fluttering against the backdrop of Helsinki's deep blue sky.
Newspapers, leaders and commentators alike agreed that Tuesday was a historic day for the nation of 5.5 million people, however.
"Until now, we have defended our country alone," Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen told public broadcaster YLE on arrival in Brussels. "From now on, we can rely on getting outside help should things get tough. And of course, we are ready to help should someone be in trouble."
'More united than ever': NATO officially welcomes Finland into fold - CBC.ca
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