After three decades of military non-alignment and in the midst of war in Ukraine, Finland on Tuesday became the 31e NATO member country, a “historic day” hailed by the leaders of the Alliance, who asked Turkey and Hungary to ratify Sweden’s membership for the Vilnius summit in July.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to take part in this summit, during which the leaders of the countries of the Alliance must make commitments to support Ukraine in the long term and bring this country closer to NATO.
“We look forward to meeting Mr. Zelensky at our summit in Vilnius in July,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after a meeting of Alliance foreign ministers in attended by their Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kouleba.
“Ukraine will become a member of NATO, but we must ensure that it remains a sovereign and independent country, and for this reason we must help it win the war with Russia,” he said. He specifies.
Allies have provided $150 billion in aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, including $65 billion in military aid, he said.
Washington announced a new round of military aid of $2.6 billion on Tuesday, and allies are to announce “significant support” for Ukraine at the Vilnius summit, Stoltenberg said.
In a strong signal sent to Russia, which denounced an “attack” on its security and promised “countermeasures”, the NATO allies welcomed Finland on Tuesday with great fanfare, which became the 31e member of the Alliance, and called for its Swedish neighbor to join “as soon as possible”.
“More united than ever”
US President Joe Biden said he was “proud” to welcome Helsinki to the Western military alliance.
” When [Vladimir] Putin launched his brutal war of aggression against the Ukrainian people, he thought he could divide Europe and NATO. He was wrong. Today we are more united than ever,” he said in a statement.
His French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, tweeted: “Welcome Finland to NATO! “, while the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, presented his” sincere congratulations “.
Finland has handed over the instruments of ratification to the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, representative of the country depositary of the North Atlantic Treaty. The flag of Finland was then hoisted in the NATO courtyard, between those of Estonia and France.
“The era of military non-alignment in our history is coming to an end. A new era is beginning,” said Finnish head of state Sauli Niinistö. US Secretary of State and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg hailed a “historic day”.
“I am tempted to say that this is perhaps the only thing for which we can thank [le président russe, Vladimir] Putin, because he has, once again, rushed something he said he wanted to avoid by attacking Ukraine, commented Antony Blinken.
The Nordic country shares a 1,300 kilometer long border with Russia and “is now safe”, said Jens Stoltenberg.
“Together, NATO allies represent 50% of the world’s military power. So as long as we stand united, protect each other and do so credibly, there will be no military attack on a NATO ally,” he explained.
“Welcoming Sweden”
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia upset security in Europe and reshuffled the cards, pushing Finland and Sweden to want to join the protective umbrella of NATO.
Finland gets the protection of Article 5, the collective defense pledge that an attack on one member “shall be considered an attack on all members.”
“One for all, all for one,” said Jens Stoltenberg.
Objections from Turkey and Hungary delayed Helsinki’s accession for months and are still blocking Stockholm’s.
“We encourage Turkey and Hungary to ratify Sweden’s accession protocols without delay so that we can welcome Sweden into the Atlantic Alliance as soon as possible,” Blinken said.
“I’m calling the president [turc] Erdogan not to ruin the Vilnius summit” in July, launched his Lithuanian counterpart, Gabrielus Landsbergis, saying he hoped to see at that time “the flag of Sweden flying in NATO”.
Chance of the alphabetical order, the colors of Sweden would then be hoisted between those of Spain and Turkey.