Finland will become NATO’s 31st member on Tuesday

Finland will become NATO’s 31st member on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday.

“Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will welcome Finland as the 31st member,” Jens Stoltenberg said, adding that the Finnish flag would be raised mid-afternoon on Tuesday at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels.

“This is truly a historic day,” he added, noting that it was the “quickest” accession process in the Alliance’s recent history.

“Trust” the Swedish membership

Asked about the fate of Sweden, for which Turkey has not yet given the green light, the NATO chief was optimistic.

“I am absolutely sure that Sweden will also become a member. It is, for NATO, for me, a priority to ensure that this happens as quickly as possible,” he said during the press conference.

Sweden, like Finland, is already highly integrated into NATO with guest country status.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the two countries decided to turn the page on their 1990s policy of military non-alignment, inherited from decades of forced or chosen neutrality, by applying for NATO membership in May 2022.