Finland has officially become the 31st member of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO). According to broadcaster Yle, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto handed over the document on Finland's accession to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
The ceremony was held at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels with the participation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The total length of Russia's land border with NATO countries (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Norway) was 1215 km. The length of the Russian-Finnish border is 1340 km. Thus, with the entry of Finland into NATO, Russia's long border with the countries of the Alliance has more than doubled.
Finland, along with Sweden, applied to join NATO after the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The entry into Sweden is hampered by Turkey, which demands from Stockholm the extradition of Kurdish refugees and Turkish oppositionists. In addition, the Turkish authorities use as an excuse not to support Sweden's application, the story of the burning of the Koran.
Russia in December promised to create a new group of troops in the north-west of the country near the Finnish border. The Russian Foreign Ministry promised the Finns "retaliatory measures of both a military-technical and other nature."