Tuesday, April 4, 2023- Finland, which shares a ~1,300km border with the Russian Federation, has become the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As a member, Finland now has the full protection of NATO Article 5- which declares that an act of war against one member is an act of war against all members. For those who may not be familiar, this comes after an intense history of Finnish-Russian conflicts:
- 1939-1940, Winter War: Soviet Union invades Finland
- 1941-1944, Continuation War: Finland and Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union
- 1948, YYA Treaty: Finland declares neutrality in the Cold War
- 1991: Soviet Union collapses
- 1994: Finland joins NATO’s Partnership for Peace program
- 1995: Finland joins the European Union
- February 2022: Russia invades Ukraine
- June 2022: NATO invites Finland to join
- July 2022: Finland applies for NATO membership
- April 2023: Finland joins NATO
Finland’s application has become the quickest of any member to be ratified, taking less than nine months. Following Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine, both Sweden and Finland would formally receive invitations to join NATO on June 29, 2022. Less than a week later, both countries would begin their application and receive 28 of the 30 ratifications required. Finally, on April 4, both Hungary and Türkiye ratified the application making Finland- as well as peace in northern Europe- safe from Russian aggression.
