(Brussels) Finland will become Tuesday the 31e member of NATO, its Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday.
“Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will welcome Finland as 31e member”, declared Mr. Stoltenberg, adding that the Finnish flag would be hoisted on Tuesday mid-afternoon at the Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
“It is truly a historic day,” he added, pointing out that it was the “fastest” accession process in the Alliance’s recent history.
Asked about the fate of Sweden, for which Turkey has not yet given the green light, the NATO chief was optimistic.
“I am absolutely confident that Sweden will also become a member. It is, for NATO, for me, a priority to ensure that this will happen as quickly as possible,” he said during a press briefing.
Sweden, like Finland, is already very integrated within NATO with the status of guest country.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the two countries decided to turn the page on their policy of military non-alignment in force since the 1990s, itself inherited from decades of forced or chosen neutrality, by asking to join to NATO in May 2022.