Finland Announces It Will Apply For Nato Membership

Finland's government announced yesterday that the Nordic country intends to apply for membership of Nato, paving the way for the 30-member western military alliance to expand as Russia's war in Ukraine continues.

- Thomas Kingsley

President Sauli Niinisto and prime minister Sanna Marin made the announcement in a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki. The Finnish parliament is expected to endorse the decision in the coming days, but this is considered a formality. A formal membership application will then be submitted to Nato headquarters in Brussels, most likely at some point next week.

It comes after the Finnish leaders said this week that they were in favour of applying for Nato membership as soon as possible. "Finland must apply for Nato membership without delay," they said. “We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.”

The announcement was met with threats by Russia, which shares a 800-mile border with Finland. The Kremlin said it would take retaliatory “military-technical” steps after Finland's leaders came out in favour of applying to join the alliance. Sweden could also apply to join Nato within days, in a historic realignment triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.