On 4 April 2023 Finland deposited its instrument of accession in Brussels and became NATO’s 31st ally. What changes for the Alliance and for Sweden, which is still waiting.
Finland became NATO’s thirty-first member on 4 April 2023, the moment it deposited its instrument of accession. At the Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto handed the instrument of accession to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, because the United States is the treaty’s depositary. Then, for the first time, the Finnish flag flew in front of NATO headquarters, at a ceremony attended by Finnish president Sauli Niinistö, welcomed by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Finnish flags were also raised at the allied commands in Mons (Belgium) and Norfolk (Virginia). The Finnish national anthem and NATO’s hymn were played.
Finland’s defence minister, Antti Kaikkonen, the foreign ministers of all the allies and Sweden, invited to join, were also present. Finland, a close partner of the Alliance, already took part in its meetings, but accession adds what it did not have: collective defence guarantees.
How it came about
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, led Finland and Sweden to abandon decades of military non-alignment. They applied to join in May 2022 and the NATO summit held in Madrid in June invited them to accede. The allies signed Finland’s accession protocol on 5 July 2022.
The parliaments of the 30 members then had to ratify it, because accession requires unanimity. Hungary did so at the end of March 2023, by 182 votes to 6, and Turkey, the last, on 30 March, unanimously, with all 276 deputies present voting in favour. Less than eleven months passed between the application and accession.
What changes
With accession, Finland is covered by Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, under which an armed attack on one ally is considered an attack on all. NATO extends its land border with Russia by 1,340 kilometres and gains a military force that, according to some analyses, is among the most powerful in Western Europe in wartime. Stoltenberg said the move is good for Finland, for Nordic security and for the Alliance as a whole, and that Russian president Vladimir Putin had failed in his attempt to close NATO’s door: instead of shrinking, the Alliance has grown.
Sweden, which applied at the same time as Finland, is still waiting: Turkey and Hungary have not ratified its accession. Turkey alleges that Stockholm has been lenient towards groups it regards as terrorists and has expressed anger at the burning of a Quran outside its embassy; members of Hungary’s governing party have said they will wait for Stockholm to resolve outstanding disagreements. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said talks would continue, but that his support depended on Sweden taking concrete steps. Sweden hopes to join before NATO’s summit in Vilnius in July.
The enlargement confirms that Europe’s security environment has changed since February 2022. Companies with operations or suppliers in Eastern Europe and the Baltic are following closely how sanctions on Russia and exposure to geopolitical risk evolve.
In under eleven months, a country that had stayed outside military alliances for decades has joined NATO.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
