Finland is set become the 31st member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday, after the Turkish Parliament ratified Finland’s membership bid last week. Finnish Prime Minister Sauli Niinistö expressed his thanks to each of the member states, affirming that “Finland will be a strong and capable Ally, committed to the security of the Alliance.”

The Finnish government stated:

NATO membership will strengthen Finland’s security in the changed security environment and improve stability and security in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe…Through NATO membership, Finland will be a part of NATO’s collective defence and, thus, will be covered by the security guarantees enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. As a member of NATO, Finland will participate in making decisions on security policy issues that are of key importance to Finland.

The Finnish flag is set to be raised at the NATO Headquarters tomorrow. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg commented, “Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member of NATO, making Finland safer and our alliance stronger.”

Finland sought NATO membership after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The invasion significantly impeded Finland’s security considering it shares a 1300km border with Russia. The objective of NATO is to “safeguard the Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means.” Under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, an attack on one member is considered an attack against all members.