Finland formally joined the NATO military alliance on Tuesday in a historic policy shift brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, drawing a threat from Moscow of "countermeasures".

Finland's accession roughly doubles the length of the border that NATO shares with Russia and bolsters its eastern flank as the war in Ukraine grinds on with no resolution in sight.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto completed the accession process by handing over an official document to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Calling it a new era, Finland President Sauli Niinistö said Finland joining NATO is not targeted against anyone nor does it change the foundations or objectives of the country's foreign and security policy. He also said that Finland's membership was not complete without Sweden joining the alliance and hoped for early resolution of the process.

pic.twitter.com/ajyjRf3iYk

— Sauli Niinistö (@niinisto) April 4, 2023

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, welcoming Finland to its ranks, noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had cited opposing NATO expansion as one justification for his invasion.

"He is getting exactly the opposite...Finland today, and soon also Sweden will become a full fledged member of the alliance," Stoltenberg said in Brussels.

The Kremlin said Russia would be forced to take "counter-measures" to Finland's accession. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the move raised the prospect of the conflict in Ukraine escalating further.

Finland shares a 1300-kilometre border with Russia and the country joining NATO has not gone down well with its neighbour.

“We will strengthen our military potential in the west and the northwest,” Grushko said in remarks carried by the state RIA Novosti news agency, reported by Aljazeera.

Twelve nations, including the US, the UK, Canada, and France, established NATO in 1949 after the Second World War. The organisation's initial objective was to secure peace in Europe and promote cooperation among its members while safeguarding their freedom in light of the threat from the then Soviet Union.

ALSO READ|

Donald Trump flies to New York for court surrender

Here is all you need to know about NATO:

Collective Defence

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is said to be the most important, stating that the signatory nations are united in their commitment to NATO and an attack on one ally nation is considered to be an attack on NATO allies. It reads, “An armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.” Article 5 was invoked only once in 2001 during the 9/11 attack in the United States.

NATO’s Growth

The Soviet Union, which was dominated by Russia in 1990, also included the Baltic states, Ukraine, and a number of other nations that are now sovereign. Six satellite nations - Albania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania- are now all sovereign countries and were part of the Warsaw Pact, an alliance that was also dominated by Russia.

Germany has been united for the past 33 years, and all of the former Warsaw Pact nations have entered NATO. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are the other three former Soviet Union members who have entered NATO.

NATO in Cold War

Since its inception, NATO's main goal has been to coordinate and fortify the Western Allies' military response to a potential invasion of Western Europe by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. To counter the Warsaw Pact's much stronger ground forces in the early 1950s, NATO depended on the threat of massive nuclear retaliation from the United States. Later, NATO implemented a "flexible response" strategy, preventing war in Europe from turning into a full-scale nuclear conflict.

ALSO READ| NATO chief hails 'historic moment' as Finland, Sweden apply

Mikhail Gorbachev, the head of the Soviet Union, signalled his tacit approval of the replacement of these communist governments in central and eastern Europe after 1985 by declaring that Moscow would no longer support them. This resulted in a significant reduction in the military threat the Warsaw Pact once presented to Western Europe, prompting some to question whether NATO still needed to exist as a military organisation.

France and NATO

France's relations continued to worsen with NATO after 1958 as then-French President Charles de Gaulle criticised the US for its domination of the organisation. Although France left NATO in 1966, it continued to maintain and deploy ground troops in West Germany and to maintain liaison ties with NATO's integrated military staff. France returned to the military command structure in 2009.

ALSO READ Swedish lawmakers vote to endorse country joining NATO

NATO Funding

Each NATO member nation contributes to the Alliance's operating expenses. Because the US spends far more on security than all other members combined, it has dominated the alliance since its inception. Only a few countries met the 2014 NATO Member decision to increase their individual defence budgets up to 2 percent of their country's GDP within ten years.

(With agencies inputs)

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)

First Published:Apr 4, 2023 3:36 PM IST