On the 4th, Finland officially joined NATO on the 74th anniversary of its founding, becoming the 31st member state.

The picture shows the Finnish membership ceremony held at the NATO headquarters in Brussels and the Finnish flag raised.

(AFP)

Any attack on a member state is deemed to be an attack on NATO

[Compiler Guan Shuping/Comprehensive Report] Finland officially joined NATO on the 74th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the 4th, becoming the 31st member state. The readjustment of the situation is undoubtedly a heavy blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sweden's membership in Finland is incomplete

NATO held a Finnish membership ceremony at its headquarters in Brussels and hoisted the Finnish flag. The final procedure for the four-day membership was to submit the NATO treaty signing letter to US Secretary of State Blinken, the custodian of NATO treaties and documents.

Finnish President Niinisto said at the induction ceremony, "The era of non-alignment in our country's history has ended, and a new era has begun."

He also spoke of Sweden, saying that "without Sweden", Finland's NATO membership is incomplete and that Sweden's fast-track accession process continues.

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After Finland joined NATO, Russia doubled its borders with NATO countries.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Russian President Vladimir Putin said that one of the goals of the aggression against Ukraine was to reduce NATO's power. Soon Sweden will also become a full member of this alliance".

He said that after Finland joined NATO, "the most important thing is to obtain security guarantees, (North Atlantic Treaty) Article V applies to Finland", referring to the core provisions of NATO's common defense. All member attacks, other members will respond immediately.

U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement, congratulating Finland on joining, "When Putin launched his brutal war of aggression against the Ukrainians, he thought he could divide Europe and NATO, he was wrong", "Today we are more united than ever, and in our Strengthened by our newest ally, Finland, together we will continue to maintain transatlantic security, defend every inch of NATO, and meet any challenge that comes our way.”

The Associated Press pointed out that Finland's accession to NATO has brought strategic and political setbacks to Putin; Putin has always used NATO's expansion towards Russia as one of the legitimate reasons for his aggression.

"I'm tempted to say that's maybe one thing we can thank Putin for, because again he's enabled what he's trying to prevent with aggression, leading many countries to believe that they have to step up to guard their security," Blinken said. ensure protection against possible further Russian aggression."

Zelensky Congratulates Russia's Only Security Guarantee

Not far from the ceremony venue, dozens of people wrapped their national flags and shouted "Ukraine needs NATO".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Finland in a post on social media. He said, "In the face of Russian aggression, this alliance has become the only effective security guarantee in the region." go one step further.

Kremlin spokesman Peskov said on the 4th that NATO's acceptance of Finland's accession and expansion of its territory "is eroding our security and national interests." Moscow will pay close attention to any NATO military deployment.