The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, attended yesterday at NATO headquarters in Brussels the flag-raising ceremony of Finland as the 31st member of the Alliance.
In a brief press release, the Spanish government congratulated “Finland on its accession to the Atlantic Alliance” and expressed “its wish that the ratification of Sweden’s accession to the Alliance materializes as soon as possible.” “The accessions of Finland and Sweden to the Atlantic Alliance will contribute to the consolidation of a more secure Euro-Atlantic space,” it added.
The flag-raising took place immediately after the Helsinki government deposited its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty with the United States at the same NATO headquarters in Brussels, on the occasion of the first day of the Alliance’s Ministerial Meeting.
Finland and Sweden submitted their application for membership in May 2022 to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and their entry was agreed at the end of June during the Alliance’s Madrid Summit. The allies signed Finland’s Protocol of Accession on July 5, 2022, after which all 30 national parliaments voted in favor of its ratification, including, a few days ago, Turkey’s National Assembly. In Spain, both Houses of Parliament authorized the signing of the Accession Protocols in September and Spain’s Ambassador to the United States, Santiago Cabanas, presented the instruments of ratification to the U.S. State Department in early October. With the entry of Finland, a country traditionally characterized by its refusal to align militarily, NATO adds more than 1,300 kilometers to its border with Russia.
“We welcome Finland to the Alliance!” declared Jens Stoltenberg yesterday, as Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto deposited the instrument of accession with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Stoltenberg then welcomed the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, and both attended the flag-raising in the presence of the foreign ministers of all NATO Allies and the guest country Sweden. The flag-raising ceremonies took place simultaneously at Allied Command Operations (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium, and Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia, United States.
“I am deeply proud to welcome Finland as a full member of our Alliance and look forward to welcoming Sweden as soon as possible as well,” the secretary general said. “NATO membership is good for Finland, it is good for Nordic security and it is good for NATO as a whole,” he continued. Finland’s accession, he added, demonstrates to the world that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not succeeded in “slamming NATO’s door shut,” because, “instead of less NATO, he has achieved the opposite, more NATO, and our door remains firmly open.”
NATO Day
The highlight of the first day in Brussels was the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, attended in person by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, at which ministers discussed military, economic and financial support for Ukraine and long-term political support for Ukraine, including support for its Euro-Atlantic integration.
The Brussels meeting also coincided with the celebration of NATO Day and the 74th anniversary of the signing of the Washington Treaty that gave rise to the Alliance. In this regard, Albares disseminated a video through social networks in which he stated that this anniversary “takes on a special dimension in the current circumstances, in a changing global security environment in which Europe is once again facing the horror of war, in this case because of Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine.”
“Russia’s actions remind us how important it is to continue to protect our peace and stability, our freedoms, our democracy and our rule of law, and to do so not only against traditional threats, but also against new ones, such as cyber, hybrid, climate change or emerging and disruptive energies,” he continued. “These threats come from everywhere, also from the south of the Alliance,” he added. “To this end, NATO remains the indispensable tool, ensuring the security of all 30 allies and protecting our principles and our values,” he added. “We join the anniversary with determination, as a committed ally actively contributing to our collective defense under the NATO flag,” he concluded.
For her part, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, highlighted in another video “Spain’s commitment to the Alliance in defense of peace, freedom and security,” as “demonstrated by our support for Ukraine,” and expressed her “appreciation to the Spanish military who are on NATO missions.”
