On Tuesday, Finland joined NATO as its 31st member, a historic development that elicited a furious threat of countermeasures from the Kremlin.

The complete invasion of Ukraine by Moscow last year changed the security environment in Europe and led Finland and its neighbor Sweden to abandon their long-standing policy of military non-alignment.

The secretary general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg said, “We once believed that Finland joining would be inconceivable. That was a few years ago. As a result, they will now be an official member of our alliance, which is truly historic”.

Jens Stoltenberg further said, “By removing the possibility of miscalculation in Moscow about NATO’s readiness to protect Finland, we make Finland safer”.

Before the choreographed final formalities before hoisting Finland’s blue-and-white flag in front of NATO’s headquarters, Finnish Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen called it a “win-win situation”.

Moscow, on the other hand, condemned the move as an ‘assault’ on Russia’s security and national interests.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “This forces us to take countermeasures… both tactical and strategic”.

As a member of NATO, Finland is subject to Article 5, which states that an assault on one country will be regarded as an attack against all.

This was the assurance Finnish authorities felt they needed as they watched Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadly assault on Ukraine.

The secretary general of NATO said, “He wished to see less NATO around his borders. He wants NATO’s door shut. No more European nations can become members of NATO. He is receiving the exact opposite”.

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