Finland is set to officially become a member of NATO later on Tuesday and take its place among the ranks of the world’s biggest security alliance.
An empty flagpole stands between the national flags of France and Estonia outside NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, April 3, 2023. Finland awaits an official green light to become the 31st member of the world's biggest security alliance as NATO foreign ministers prepare to meet in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday. –
Finland’s blue and white flag is scheduled to be raised among those of its partners outside NATO’s Brussels headquarters. Finland’s president, foreign and defense ministers will take part. Turkey became the last NATO member country to ratify Finland’s membership protocol on Thursday. It will hand over the document officially enshrining that decision to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the ceremony.Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, setting aside years of military nonalignment to seek protection under the organization’s security umbrella.